


Somewhere among the stars

by Shycubkovu



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Forgiveness, Hurt/Comfort, Soft Catra (She-Ra), catradora, space
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-23
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:35:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 20,919
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28251756
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shycubkovu/pseuds/Shycubkovu
Summary: A signal from space promisses potential answers to many questions, including Catras origin.On their way to said signal, Catra has to face her past.
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Bow/Glimmer (She-Ra), Mermista/Sea Hawk (She-Ra)
Kudos: 39





	1. Miss Meowmeow I assume

"I really don't want to do this." Argued Catra as she walked along side Adora through the corridors of Brightmoon castle.  
"Do you want to get our friends to join us on this adventure ?" Adora asked.  
"I mean technically speaking we could just leave without them. Put a note on the conference table telling them to feed Melog."  
Catra reasoned with a sly grin.  
"Uh huh. And once we encounter technical issues we'll just sort them out ourselves, being the tech experts that we are."  
Adora countered sarcastically.  


"Catra, I know you are still getting used to everybody and everybody is still getting used to you. For the last few weeks you rarely let yourself show around the castle, unless you wanted to see me or you were required to be there."  
Adora said.  
"Am I not allowed to go wherever I please whenever I want to ?" Catra asked with a slight edge to her tone.  
Adora sighed. "You are free to go wherever you want but I feel like you're avoiding closeness with anyone but me." She said.  
"That's ridicoulus." Catra pouted.  
"Really ? Bow, Glimmer,Scorpia, Entrapta and me did a game night a few days ago.  
You told me you were too tired for it but when I came back to our room you were still wide awake." Adora grinned.  
"Well I had slept up until you came back." Said Catra defensively.  
"I saw you climbing the castle walls through a window during game night." Adora countered.  
"Are you sure that was me ?" Catra tried to argue.  
"I'd recognize your cute ears anywhere."  
Said Adora as she ran her fingers through the hair beetween Catras ears, prompting the former Horde Force Captain to purr.  
"Hey. Stop that." Catra giggled.  
" Just tell me the truth." Said Adora with a warm smile.  


"You were right I've been avoiding the others for the last few weeks because I still feel like they don't really like or accept me."  
Catra started.  
"I'm scared that they still hate me. That they wouldn't want anything to do with me.  
I was a monster and they would have all the right in the world to hate my guts." Catra went on, avoiding eyecontact with Adora.  
"Listen, none of them hate you. Two of them are not going to forgive you for what you did as a horde force captain but they won't treat you with any less dignity.  
At the very least you can trust when I say that Bow and Glimmer think of you as a very good friend. An odd friend but a good friend none the less.  
They got to know you on the flight back from Horde Primes flag ship. Most people like you, once they get to know you." Adora said.  
" I guess you're right." Catra nodded half heartedly.  
"Now come on,I believe the others are waiting for us in the conference room." 

****

****

\------

A small group of princesses and allies of the former rebellion, now the Interplanetary Union of Atheria, had assembled on and around the table of the conference hall.

"Ugh finally, did you two walk on your knees here or why did it take you this long?" The ever annoyed princess Mermista greeted Catra and Adora.  
"We just had to talk something over. Nothing too dramatic." Assured Adora with a smile.  
"Hey Catra, great to see you again." Proclaimed the ever excited Bow, making his way over to them.  
"Yeah, you've kept away for the last few weeks and we started to worry. Adora kept telling us that it was nothing to worry about but ...well you know. " Glimmer said as she teleported right next to Catra.  
"Uh Thanks." Catra responded with a smile she didn't expect herself to bare.  
"I think it would be best if we get down to business first and then we can get back to how everyone is doing." Adora announced and the room fell quiet.  


Currently present were Bow, the archer with a heart of gold, Glimmer, the sometimes irritating queen of brightmoon (a good Ruler none the less),  
Melog, the shapeshifting extraterestrial cat like creature, Mermista, the previously mentioned always annoyed water princess, Captain Seahawk,  
the always ready for a musical number boat based arsonist (and Mermistas boyfriend(although she has a tendency of denying this depending on whom she is talking to)),  
Entrapta, the tech enthusiast and potentially inventer of weapons of mass destruction, Scorpia, the nicest person you will ever meet and substitude King Micah,  
the strongest magician you will ever meet and also recently resurfaced regent.

"Alright so here's the deal. We're trying to bring magic back to the Universe. Our first hint on how to do that has been a signal found by Entrapta." Adora started.  
"At first she thought it was just white noise but then...actually I let her tell it cause I still don't know what she told me earlier. Entrapta, if you may ?"  
Adora gave way for Entrapta, who after a few moments of absentmindedness , realised it was her turn to speak and got up.

"In essence I managed to extrapolate the signals frequency from a similar configuration, used by first ones beacon. As it turns out the signal contained concentrated lingual  
strings in a repetitive pulse. The signals source must still be integrally speaking operational. I even managed to triangulate the approximate time space possition."  
Entrapta finished, excitement glisstening in her eyes.

"Ok, and now for everyone who isn't You or Bow." Mermista groaned.  
Entrapta rolled her eyes. She slowly spoke." The signal I found is like the signal from the first ones beacon on Etheria. There were repeting words in the signal.  
Since the signal is still being send, I would think that it's source could still work and the signal is traceable to a specific star system." She finished.

Adora got up again. " That's what we've got so far. However there is another fact that I've omitted mostly because it might be better if Catra told you about  
it. It is in regards to her origin or at least we think it is. Catra ?" Adora looked at Catra expectantly.  
Catra sat there with a deep red face. She didn't move.  
"Uh, Catra ?" Adore reiterated.  
Everyone looked at her.  
Adora walked up to her and squated down as to be on eye level with the still seated Catra.  
"Are you alright ?" Whispered Adora calmly to Catra.  
Catra sheepishly shook her head.  
Somewhat out of sight Melog mirrored Catras semi balled up sitting possition.  
"Is it the embarrassment?" Adora whispered with a sly grin.  
Catra hissed and added. " ...m not embarrassed." Under her breath.  
"Alright, then be a big Kitten and stand up so that you can tell the others what we found out." Whispered Adora with a playfull tone in her voice.  
"Or I'll just tell them..." Adora added still sporting that sly grinn.  
"Ugh. Alright call yourself lucky that you're so pretty or else I would have already scratched you." Catra finally got up.  


She tried to keep her head high in an effort to give of the impression of self assuredness.  
Then she walked to the long end of the table that was facing towards the corridor.  
"The words contained in the signal were a Name....my last Name to be excact." She started.  
A gasp went through the room.  
"I believe that this signal might have come from the world were my parents or maybe even my grandparents were from. I've never known any of my relatives but  
I did know my last name. It was engraved on a bracelet when the horde found me and they used it for my medical records." Catra explained.  
"It never came up with most of the other people I knew in the horde. Well, I told Adora but no one else knew."  
"Ok, so what is your last name ?" Bow asked with genuine curiousity.  
"Before I tell it to all of you I want both Scorpia and Bow to promis me that they won't explode in exclaimations of the words, cute, adorable , precious or any other overly  
cutesy word." Catra demanded with threat in her eyes.  
Bow and Scorpia shot each other a somewhat knowing look.  
Catra sighed. "Just try it. OK?" Catra said.  
All eyes were still on her. She took a deep breath and finally declared.  


"My full name is Catra Applesauce Meowmeow." Catra muttered.  


A moment of surprised silence passed.  
Adora, being already used to Catras full name, still had to stiffle a giggle into a cough.  
"That" Bow and Scorpia began to say in unison. " has to be the cu-"  
"Say it and I swear to god, I will be scratching at both of your doors at night for the entire next week." Catra threatened.  
Both Bow and Scorpia closed their mouths again, bearing faces reminiscend of dissapointed puppy dogs.  
The rest of the group remained silent. Some of them hadn't quite decided weather or not Catra was being serious about her last name while others desperately tried to hold in their laughter.  


Catra finally rolled her eyes and spoke. "Ugh fine just let it all out now so that we can move on with the brefing." She said.  
Having been given the permission to react any which way they wanted, the room explooded in laughter, confused exclaimations and cooing.  
The cooing came mostly from Bow and Scorpia.  
"Little miss meowmeow sounds like such a cute title. I want to knit you a fabric name tag with that on it. " Bow smiled.  
"And I'll help you with that. Oh. Maybe we could make it a hairband, then everybody can see just how adorable Catra's name is."Added Scorpia.  


Glimmer was snort laughing much to her Fathers (royally more restrained) bemusement.  
Mermista just let out a dry singular laugh. " That is kinda funny." She admitted.  
"I'm more confused, honestly." Seahawk comented. "Is it her literall name or some badly translated runes or something." He said.  
"Badly translated runes ?" Interjected Entrapta, whose reaction had been second to none. Now however something had sparked her interrest.  


The technophile made her way across the table via her hair and got a few inches to close to Catra for personal space.  
Out of surprise Catra took a step back.  
"Do you still have the bracelete the horde found you with ?" Entrapta almost yelled in excitement.  
"Yes." Adora said as she took yet a few more steps back. "Why ?" She asked.  
"If it's written in some rune type of rune lettering then I could attempt to retranslate it." Entrapte said as she moved a few inches forward.  
"It is written in normal letters. There is nothing to translate." Answered Catra, dismissively.  
"Aw." Came a dissapointed moan from Entrapta.  
"Wait." Her voice instantly went from dissapointed back to excited. "I could still use it to analyse it's composition." Entrapta said.  
"Could I see it ?" She asked.  


Catras eyes tightened.  
Her pulse accelerated.  
"No!" Catra almost screamed. The room went quiet again in the blink of an eye.  
No one had expected this.  
A cold boiling mix of fear and anger was visible on Catras face as she clutched onto her right shoulder.  
"It's mine." Catra exclaimed, it sounded as if she was on the verge of tears for some reason.  
"No one get's to see or touch it." Catra screamed.  
Melog jumped infront of Catra in a deffensive stance and growled at Entrapta who quickly backed off.  
Adora knew what was happening and quickly ran up to Catra, Melog didn't stop her.  


"Catra. It's alright. No one wants to take your bracelet." Adora assured Catra as she put a hand on Catras left cheek and the other on her shoulder.  
Catra was still breathing heavily.  
Catra, look at me." Adora asked gently.  
Slowly, Catra seemed to calm down.  
"It's ok." Reiterated Adora.  
"I-I'm sorry." Catra uttered as she realised what had just happened.  


"Whoa. What was that ?" Asked Mermista in surprise( yet as ussual with a vocal inflection that somehow felt like pure dissinterest).  
Adora turned back to the rest of the room with an awkward smile.  
"It's ...uh ...a bit delicate." Adora said, looking around the room trying to ignore the fact that literally everyone was now looking at her and catra as if they where a two headed pony.  


"Care to explain then ?" Bow said with genuine concern.  
"Catra, do you want to...?" Adora looked back at Catra again who still seemed a bit taken aback by her own outburst.  
"Alright then I'll just tell it." Adora said as she guided the still befuddled catra back to the table and sat down.

End of Chapter 1  
Next: Chapter 2 : All I had


	2. It was all I had

# 

Many years ago. In the Fright Zone  


"Why are you following me ?" Catra asked the girl who hadn't left here alone ever since she had arrived earlier today.  
"You are cool." Answered the girl in a high pitch that would accompany her for quite a few more years.  
The same was true for Catra, who kept eyeing the other girl with suspicion.  
"Why ?" Catra asked.  
"You have a tail and those." The girl walked closer to Catra and pointed at her ears.  
"My ears ?" Catra asked and her ears flicked as she spoke.  
"Yeah. They are so cool." The other girl said with big eyes of admiration.  
" You think my ears are cool ?" Catra asked yet again.  
"Uh huh." Nodded the other girl.  
"I'm Adora." The other girl said.  
"M-my name is Catra." Catra said, still a bit unsure of this girl.  
"Uh, if you want you can touch my ears." She added.  
This Adora girl seemed nice enough.  
"Really ?!" Adora asked excitedly.  
Something about Adora just made Catra trust her.  
"Yes." Catra said and bowed forward so that Adora could reach her ears.  
"Wow.They are so soft." Smiled Adora as she petted Catras ears.  
"Thanks...um do you want to be my friend ?" Catra asked sheepishly.  
"Sure." Adora said as if she didn't even need to think about it.  
"Cool. So, what's your full name." Asked Catra as she became more and more comfortable with the girl she had only meet a few minutes ago.  
"My full name? I'm Adora." Adora said, a bit confused.  
"No. Not your first name, dumb dumb. " Catra giggled. "Your full name."  
"Hey that's not nice. I'm not dumb." Protested. Adora."Maybe you're just making that up so you can act all smart."  
"I have a full name." Catra said as she reached up her right sleeve until her left hand was on her shoulder, then she retrieved a bracelet with engravings on it.  
She then showed the bracelet off to Adora with pride.  
"Wow."  
"Yeah. It's the bracelet that I was found with." Catra explained.  
Adora read the engravings.  
"Catra Applesauce Meowmeow?"  
"Yeah." Catra said.  
"That sounds funny." Chuckled Adora.  
"Hey, my name is not funny !" Pouted Catra.  
"But Applesauce Meow Meow sounds funny." Countered Adora.  
"You are making fun of me." Said Catra as she crossed her arms and turned away from Adora.  
"Aw come on. I just said your name sounds funny. You're really cool." Said Adora  
"You're just saying that." Muttered Catra.  
"No, I mean it." Adora said with certainty.  
Catra turned back to Adora.  
"Really?" There was single tear rolling down Catras left cheek which Catra quickly wiped away.  
"Yes. We are friends now, remember. Why would I make fun of you?" Asked Adora in confusion.  
Catra didn't answer and instead a smile grew across her face and without much announcement went in for a hug.  
Although unexpected, Adora didn't object.  
"I like you Adora, you're nice." Catra exclaimed.  
"I like you too." Giggled Adora.  
A few seconds went by until Catra spoke again.  
"Could you promise something ?" Asked Catra as she resolved the hug.  
"Sure. What is it ?" Asked Adora.  
"Please don't tell anybody else about my name or my bracelet." Catra said with unwavering eyes.  
"I don't want the others to know. They might steal it." She went on.  
"The other kids don't seem like they're mean." Said Adora.  
"Just promise. Ok?"

Back in the Present day. Bright moon castle.

"It was all I had." Catra muttered under her breath after Adora had finished.  
"Adora had always been the only person I felt like i could trust with this one thing i could truly call my own." She said.  
"It's not a good excuse for my outburst but ...honestly that's kind of it. I think it would be best if I put this on my list of things to work on" She finished with a sheepish smile.  
.  
The following silence lingered for a few seconds in the room untill Catra spoke again.  
"So to answer your question, Entrapta, you may study my bracelet but only under my supervision." She said.  
"Great, this will definitely help us in finding the signals precise source." Exclaimed Entrapta excitedly.  
Adora took the proverbial stage.  
"To get back on track. We will take Maras old ship. Entrapta has , without asking either me or anyone else really, equipped it with more advanced shields and even weapons."  
Adora said while giving Entrapta a look that emanated slight anger mixed with annoyance but also an odd sense of thankfulness all at once.  
"Because of course she would retrofit horde weaponry to fit with first ones tech." Adora groaned under her breath.  
"Yay for space lasers." Exclaimed Entrapta with childlike happiness.  
"Yay Indeed. We really don't know whom or what we will encounter in deep space." Stated Bow.  
"Which is why the crew will consist of the following people." Adora said as she got a crumbled up piece of paper out of her pocket.  
Queen Glimmer will be the diplomatic person of first contact, should we encounter any new lifeforms or new civilizations, she is a queen afteral but  
more so because magic cristal enhancers that Entrapta installed, this time because she was ordered to, make it possible for Glimmer to use her magic outside of  
Etheria.  
Next on we have Bow and Entrapta on our tech team. Should anything go wrong, even if it was caused by them, they will be ready to fix it." Adora went on.  
"Hold on, how could I ever cause anything to go wrong ?" Protested Bow.  
"There was at least one time during the last month where you burned down a few trees in the whispering woods because of one of your experimental arrows." Adora responded.  
Bow kept quiet.  
"Alright, then we have Scorpia and someone else who is yet to arrive. They will serve as the muscle of this operation as well as Psychological support." Adora went on.  
"Seahawk and Mermista have been studying threedimensional Navigation and will be of good use as our Navigators." Adora said. "As well as magical plumbers." Adora added under her breath.  
"What was that ?" Asked Mermista with a raised eyebrow.  
"Uh nothing. I was just clearing my throat." Adora smiled sheepishly.  
Catra let out a chuckle. "Smooth moves Adora." She whispered to her Girlfriend.  
"Shut up or I will make sure you get the room next to Mermista and Seahawk." Adora whispered back.  
"Alright and last but not least there is me , Catra and Melog. My powers as She - Ra will help us immensely with any hostility we might encounter." Adora said.  
"Catra can be a bit callous at times but this is also her greatest strength in Battle." Adora said while giving Catra a warm smile.  
"Melog is magical and could potentially know a few more things about any type of magic we might encounter." Adora finished.

Substitute King Micah got up.  
"I'll remain here. Should something or someone threaten Etheria I'll be ready to defend it with all my might. If I heard correctly both Princess Perfuma and Frosta will  
stay on Etheria as well so there is always backup." He stated.

"Correct." Adora agreed.

"We'll start in two days. " Adora elaborated.  
"At 2 P.M. BMT in two days we'll lift of." Adora proclaimed with vigor.  
"Uh. What's BMT ? " Asked Mermista with the usual enthusiasm of a boulder in the middle of a dessert.  
"That's Brightmoon Time." Explained Adora.  
And so the mission could begin.

End of Chapter 2  
Next Chapter 3 : To listen and to talk.


	3. To listen and to talk

"Get out, now!" Said Adora while gritting her teeth.  
"Let's see. No." Smirked Catra.  
"I need to concentrate and as much as I love you, you are annoying me right now." Adora said with a twitching eyelid.  
"Aww would little Dori be uncomfortable with me seeing her being a klutz." Catra kept on teasing.  
"Little Dori is going to grab you by your tail if you don't get out now!" Adora was fuming.  
"Yeah, as if you could catch me." Countered Catra cockily.  
"I am desperately trying to master a very difficult technique that might help us out of a life or death situation." Adora grumbled as she jumped at Catra.  
"You can practice while I watch." Catra spun to the side, effectively evading Adora.  
Adora collided with the cabin wall.  
"Ughhh. That's it. Administrator access. Activate sprinkler systems in this room." Adora exclaimed.  
The ships systems obeyed her command and before Catra could object, water started to sprinkle from the ceiling.  
Catra let out a hiss and while screaming." I'll get you back for this!" She fled the room, leaving Adora in peace to practice.

The journey to the mysterious signal had begun, but it would be a few more days before the ship would come even close to the solar system in question.  
Maras ship had changed since Catra had last been aboard. The first ones tech allowed for some truly magical adjustments in its spacial capabilities.  
The ship could expand itself up to twice its normal size, the only downside would be it's reduced structural integrity.  
Tho this was nothing Bow and Entrapta couldn't work around.  
New walls and doors could be created by the will of the administrator, in this case, Adora.  
And so the ship could now fit a crew of up to 40.

Besides the variety of magic users and potential partners, a well familiar trio had joined the crew as well.  
Kyle, Rogelio and Lonnie. All three of them had been taken aboard due to Catras suggestion.

Speaking of Catra. The fast feline-esque female was wandering the vastness of Maras ship.  
The sprinkler water had already dried and now she was just looking for something to do.  
Per chance, she came across Melog who was also aimlessly exploring the ship.  
Catra squated down to Melogs level and started petting the magical creature.  
"Seems like we both don't have anything to do, huh." She said with tired smile.  
Melog spoke to her.  
"What do you mean ?" Catra Asked in response.  
Melog spoke yet again.  
"Why would I want to visit anyone else ? They probably don't want me around as well." Argued Catra.  
Melog turned his head and kept on talking.  
"Hey, I am not a scaredy cat." Protested Catra.  
Melog countered Catras claim.  
"Cause I don't feel like it." Catra responded, slowly growing angry.  
Then Melog gave one last statement before going into a sprint.  
Catra went after him.  
"Just for your Information," She yelled as Melog led her through the many corridors of Maras ship.  
"I am not following you because you said I'm a Scaredy cat If i didn't"

A few minutes later Melog came to a stop in front of a slightly opened door.  
A voice, filled to the brim with enthusiasm rang from inside the room.  
"The winged seagull kraken of west Gravel town arose from the sea, much to my horror.  
It's eyes too numerous to count, it's claws so sharp that it could slice diamonds in half."  
The voice explained.  
Melog peeked inside and out of curiosity, Catra did the same.  
The first thing that caught Catras eyes was Mermiste, princess of the sea, who was sitting on a bed, eyes and mouth wide open in complete and utter enthrallment.  
It was almost surreal to see Mermista like this.  
The voice telling the story, Mermista was listening to, belonged obviously to none other than Sea hawk.  
After having gotten over the initial shock of seeing Mermista expressing an emotion other than indifference, Catra started to listen to the story.  
Regardless of how obnoxious Sea Hawk could be, you had to hand it to him, he knew how to make anything sound like an epic tale.  
This was even more so true, now that he was indeed telling an epic tale.  
Catra didn't know and honestly didn't care about how much time had passed since she had started listening.  
At one point the story got so intense that she grabbed onto Melog.  
"Crawling back to shore, I knew in that it would always lurk there in the deep dark depths of etherias oceans and it could strike at any moment if it felt like it.  
And for the winged seagull kraken, we are but Ants. So beware, beware of the winged seagull kraken, neither magic nor might can slay it. Beware!" Sea Hawk finished.  
"Wow." Catra said without even realizing it.  
This statement of enchantment had been heard by Sea Hawk, who opened the slide door before Catra and Melog could get out of sight.  
"Uhhh." Catra said.  
"Hello there." Said Sea Hawk with a friendly smile.  
"Catra. We haven't really been formally introduced. At least not while on the same side." He went on.  
"Were you listening in on my story ?" He asked.  
"Oh hey Catra and that space dog thing." Said Mermista half heatedly from inside the room.  
"They are called Melog." Corrected Catra and then she sheepishly added. "and yes, I was listening to your story."  
"Then why didn't you just come in. The more the merrier." Opined Sea Hawk. " I was about to tell the tale of the return of the winged seagull kraken of west Gravel town."  
"Uh. No thanks I don't think I..." Catra wanted to talk herself out of this situation but Melog pushed her inside Sea Hawk and Mermistas cabin.  
"Looks like Melog want's to listen as well." Commented Sea Hawk with smile.  
"However before we continue, I'm going to get myself something to eat. Anyone else want something from the kitchen ?" He asked.  
"Get me one of those synthesized ham sandwiches." Mermista stated.  
"Alright." Sea Hawk looked expectantly at Catra.  
"Uh. What?" She asked in confusion.  
"Do you want anything from the kitchen ?" See Hawks asked again.  
"Maybe a can of milk ?" Catra asked but it was a request nonetheless.  
"Alright, can do." Smiled Sea Hawk and disappeared into the corridor.

"Mermista chuckled and then let out a groan."Ughh." .  
"What ?" Inquired Catra.  
"He made a pun, again." Mermista replied." And I laughed about it, again." She said with a smile that was very much exactly her.  
"So. Um...you two ? Huh?" Catra asked.  
"Yes, me and Sea Hawk are together. Although I am not always super outspoken about it. But can you blame me, Sea Hawk can be a bit much." Mermista explained.  
"No Argument here. But why are you two together then ?" Catra inquired.  
"Because he is really sweet. When someone with a prose as flowery as Sea Hawk invites you to a romantic dinner, you better believe it will be romantic." Explained Mermista.  
"Then he can be so adventurous that the phrase "sweep you off your feet" doesn't even start to describe it. He may not be the best fighter but that's not the point.  
His energy will make your own fighting soo much better by default." Mermista went on.  
"He knows how to raise my spirits when I'm down and I know how to keep him mentally grounded to reality when he needs it." She said.  
"And despite his sometimes braggadocios nature, and his story telling talents he can be a wonderful listener when I need him." Mermista finished.  
"Wow. You two really are a c-...good couple."Catra said.  
"Wait, were you about to call me and Sea Hawk a cute couple ?" Mermista asked.  
"What ? No." Argued Catra.  
"Wow, destroyer of dimensions Catra has a sensibility for cuteness. I'm gonna remember that." Sneered Mermista in a friendly way.  


Catra looked awkwardly to the floor.  
"What ? Are you pouting because of that ?" Mermista asked.  
"It's not that. I just remembered that I attacked your kingdom. It's sort of why I haven't been hanging out with any of the princesses after we had won the battle against Horde prime."  
Catra admitted.  
"I feel guilty and I don't know if any of you could ever forgive me." She said, while avoiding eye contact with Mermista.  
"Listen, the war was horrible and the hordes attack on Salineas was devastating for me." Mermista began.  
Catra prepared herself for the worst.  
"But I don't blame you for it. Sure you ordered it but that would have happened sooner or later. I really just blame myself for not having been there." Mermista explained.  
"Really?" Catra asked.  
"Yes. Really. I was chosen by ...well coincidence. But the Runestone Salineas connects to me. So it is was my responsibility. I let down my people." Mermista said with anger in her voice.  
"My father was so proud when I took the throne and despite all the destruction that came with the horde's invasion, he never blamed me. But I blamed myself. I still do." Mermista finished.  
Then she looked at Catra with a smile.  
"So in summary, you were a pain in everyones butt but I forgive you."  
Tears were rolling down Catras face and before Mermista said anything further, Catra went in for a hug and stated with a tear filled voice.  
"Thank you."

"For forgiving me that is." Catra hastily added.  
"You obviously shouldn't blame yourself for what has happened." She went on.  
Mermista chuckled. "Don't worry about that. Sea Hawk has been there for me all the way."  
"Speaking of the singing goof ball. Where is he ? He should've been back about five minutes ago." Mermista stated and got up with an annoyed grunt.  
"I'll be right back." Declared Mermista as she exited the room.

End of Chapter 3  
Next Chapter 4: Trust is like a flower.


	4. Trust is like a flower

Barely five minutes later, Sea Hawk reappeared in the door frame.  
"Who would've thought that one small kitchen for over ten people could be a bit tight. Anyhow. A synthesized ham sandwich for...Uh ...where is Mermista ?"  
Catra couldn't help but chuckle. "She just went out to see what was keeping you so long." She explained with a bemused smile.  
"Huh. Well then I guess I'll just wait until she comes back."Stated Sea Hawk matter of factly.  
"Oh yeah, also here is your Milk. Hope it doesn't matter that it's cold." Sea Hawk said as he handed Catra the carton of milk.  
"Thanks." Replied Catra as the took the carton.

A moment of unbearable awkward silence passed.

"So..." Both Catra and Sea Hawk said in accidental unison.  
"Oh sorry, you wanted to ..." Sea Hawk began just as Catra said. "You first..."  
Both of them had a quick laugh.  
"Alright. Maybe I should just ....unless you wanted to..." Catra began again.  
"No no , go ahead." Said Sea Hawk patiently.  
"Ok.I just didn't want to be rude." Catra replied sheepishly.  
"You're not being rude.Just say what you wanted to say." Sea Hawk encouraged her.  
"Alright, so you and Mermista. I mean Mermista already told me a few things about your relationship." Catra began.  
"I'm just kind of curious. Why would you of all people be together with her ? You two seem so different." She asked.  
"Well it's simple really. I love her. I love her voice, her attitude and basically everything about her.  
She has a strength to her that I had never seen in anyone ever."  
Sea Hawk kept gushing over Mermista and placed one boot on the bed in a victorious stance.  
"For some the sea is a frightening Moloch, unconquerable in nature, unreachable in depth, stronger than the mightiest titan.  
Sadly this is also how some people see Mermista. But not me. I see a water lilly.  
Beautiful on the surface but with so much more to discover about it in nautical depths.  
There is so much strength in her that I would trust her to carry me over a tightrope suspended in a thousand meter height." He said.  
"She is just that amazing." Sea Hawk finished.  
Neither Catra nor Sea Hawk had registered Mermista, who had been standing in the doorway for the last three minutes.

Her face was a flattered crimson red.  
"Ok, so here is the deal." She began dryly as ever.  
"Catra, you forget what you just heard and I forget the thing you said about me and Sea Hawk." She declared.  
"Sounds alright." Catra answered with a friendly smile." Although, I would like to ask one last question to both of you."  
"If that's alright." She added.  
"Sure, ask ahead." Said Sea Hawk.  
"As long as it's not too personal."  
"Do you two think that Adora and me are a good couple ? Cause there is this nagging feeling in the back of my mind.  
A feeling that all of this is too good to be true." She explained.  
A moment of silence passed, where the only noise was the slight hum of the ships engines.

Sea Hawk and Mermista gave each other a knowing look and then Sea Hawk spoke.  
"Catra, I want you to ask yourself one simple question. What do you see when you look into Adora's eyes ?" He asked.  
"I..." But before Catra could answer, her small data pad started beeping.  
"Oh shoot, I totally forgot about my long range conference call." She exclaimed.  
" A conference call with whom ?" Mermista inquired.  
"Perfuma, its that dumb meditation stuff I agreed to participate in." Said Catra as she got her carton of milk and made for the door.  
She was almost gone , when Sea Hawk yelled after her. "Please think about what I asked you, it might help you." 

\---  
About five minutes and many wrong turns later, Catra had finally arrived at the ships main communication hud.  
It was a long room with a slightly less long table in the middle of it.  
A row of windows stretched across the entire length of the room, providing a truly breathtaking view of the stars rushing by in the far of distance outside.  
After almost stumbling over a few of the conference room chairs, Catra decided to just use the table as a literal runway.  
Finally, she arrived at the screen that stretched across the entire wall. She answered the incoming signal.  
"Hi.Oh it's you." Was the first sentence Catra heard from the other side of the line.  
It wasn't perfumas voice tho. It was a voice with a higher pitch.  
By the process of elimination, this could only be her meditation "partner" (as if in the other person  
that was in dire need of some inner calm and would probably not do to well in a group meditation session).  
"Hi Frosta." Answered Catra with not all that much enthusiasm.  
Frostas face slowly faded into view on the screen.  
Adora had somehow convinced Catra that meditative exercise would be good for her mental healing process.  
But it had been Perfuma who decided that Frosta would make a good meditation partner for Catra.  
Yes, the twelve year old bundle of untamable energy had been combined with the former force captain with a fuse shorter than the lawn in front of Brightmoon castle.

"Perfuma isn't here yet, but I'm sure she'll be here any minute." Frosta said.  
"Uh huh." Catra replied dryly.  
This would be their second session.  
The first one had been a bit of a mess.  
"So what are you guys doing up there ?" Asked Frosta, a bit bored.  
"Not much, we're kind of just flying in a straight line towards the signal." Catra answered,  
although she actually wasn't all that sure if that was indeed what they were doing right now.  
"Do you have any dresses ?" Asked Frosta out of the blue.  
"What? " Catra responded in confusion.  
"Dresses, you know for parties." Explained Frosta.  
"I know what dresses are, I just don't know why you would want to know if I had any." Catra said.  
"Cause when you went to the princess prom you were only wearing an ugly suit." Explained Frosta casually.  
"Hey, that suit is not Ugly." Argued Catra.  
"I mean, I didn't like it. I think you would look good in a dress. Honestly the same goes for Bow. " Frosta contemplated.  
"Ugh, I don't think so. No Idea what Bow would look like in a dress. But I know that I would look dumb." Catra said.  
"You still owe me tho." Argued Frosta.  
"What?"  
"You ruined my turn at Princess prom, so you owe me." Reasoned Frosta.  
"So next time we have a session, I want you to wear a dress." Added Frosta.  
"You can't be serious. Also I don't have a dress." Countered Catra.  
"Borrow one from Adora." Frosta countered Catras counter.  
"Ugh. Fine if it makes you happy." Catra finally gave in.She was not in the right state of mind to argue with a twelve year old.  
" If you do that I'll consider us even." Frosta said.  
"Just like that?" Catra asked.  
"Sure. I don't have anything against you. I actually think you're kind of cool. You got cool claws and ears." Frosta declared.  
"I wish I had claws. I can only make Ice claws. But Ice claws melt." Frosta Mumbled.  
"My ears?" Catra asked.  
"Yeah. Your ears are cool."Frosta repeated.  
"Th-Thanks." Catra said as she smiled and held back a tear.  
"Y'know. You're pretty cool too kid. You always gave the horde quite a fight when we were still on opposite sites." Catra said.  
"I'm not a kid. I'm 12 and a half." Pouted Frosta. "But thanks." She added.  
"Yeah you're already a big girl." Catra responded with a sly smile.  
"Hey, are you making fun of me ?" Asked Frosta in earnest puzzlement.  
"What ? Me? No." Catra sarcastically answered with stifled chuckles.  
"Alright, I believe you. Anyway. I gotta use the little girls room." Frosta stated but quickly added. " Ladies room. Damn it."  
"Just tell Perfuma, when she joins, that I'll be right back." Frosta said as she walked out of frame.

It had barely been more than five seconds that Perfuma joined the long range video call.  
"Hello Catra and ...where is Frosta ?" The slender flower princess inquired.  
"She had to use the restroom." Answered Catra truthfully.  
"Better now than during the session." Perfuma said with a smile.  
"I guess so." Catra responded.  
"So, Catra, have you tried any of the breathing exercises I taught you during our last session ?" Perfuma asked.  
"Not really, all the preparations for the mission had me preoccupied." Catra answered.  
"Maybe you could try to incorporate it into your daily routine." Suggested Perfuma.  
"Yeah. Maybe. Perfuma?" Asked Catra.  
"Yes ?" Perfuma responded.  
"I already asked Mermista this and indirectly got an answer from Frosta without asking but...do you hate me for what I've done ?" Catra Asked.  
Catra had looked awkwardly to the floor while asking and she didn't look up now either.  
"Catra. This isn't easy to articulate." Perfuma started.  
"I do not hate you. If you want to know if I forgive you on the other hand..." Perfuma hesitated.  
"...that's a different question." Absentmindedly Perfuma let a small flower grow from her hand.  
Perfumas voice remained friendly and slightly shaky as it had always been. There wasn't a hint of anger to be found.  
"Catra, from everything I've seen you do and the way Adoran, Bow and Glimmer talk about you, I can honestly say that you aren't a bad person."  
She went on.  
"But what you have done is done. It can't be reversed or erased. You hurt a lot of people." Perfuma said as the flower in her hand lost its petals.  
"We are doing these exercises to help you work through your trauma  
and that trauma was real but it is not an excuse for all the pain you caused." She said.  
"So to answer your question. No, I can not forgive you for what you've done. I don't hate you or hold a grudge against you.  
I just won't and can't forgive you."  
"But I wan't you to really think about what I mean by that. I consider you a friend of mine. You managed to earn my trust. Believe me, trust is like a flower.  
It takes time and patience to grow. So it is not that I don't like you. I like, respect and trust you...but I can never forgive you." Perfuma finished.  
"I know that might sound a bit harsh and maybe it will take some time until you've really mentally processed what I'm trying to tell you."

Catra turned to the window. "Can we maybe postpone this session ?" She asked , feeling somewhat dizzy.

"No. Unless you really don't want to.  
I know this must be hard for you to hear.But I rather be honest than to lie and never tell you the truth."  
Perfuma reasoned.  
"I won't force you to do it but I would like it if you stayed." She said.

Catra didn't answer for a few seconds as her gaze followed the millions of stars flying by on the outside.  
"Alright. I'll stay." She finally answered.

End of Chapter 4  
Next Chapter 5: As the Queen sang.


	5. As the Queen sang

Once Frosta was back, the meditation began.  
Having closed her eyes, Catra concentrated on Perfumas voice.  
"Envision a place in nature. It can be anything. A meadow, a field, a forest. Maybe a desert.  
Maybe this place is real, maybe it is only in your mind." Perfuma spoke.  
"It should be a place where you feel safe. Take a deep breath as you take in all the sensations that come with that place." Perfuma went on.  
Despite Perfumas instructions to envision a place in nature, Catra found herself lying on the cold sterile floor underneath the heart of etheria.

It was a place where she had truly felt save for the first time in forever.  
Not because of the place itself but because of what had happened there.  
When her and Adoras lips touched she had experienced a feeling of explosive magnitude. Happiness.  
Pure and unspoiled, without even a hint of malice.  
As if,  
for the first time after having been constantly drowning before,  
she now stood on firm ground.  
A moment in which she felt truly happy to be alive.  
To be no one else but herself.  
To be loved and accepted by someone else.  
A love that she could trust.  
A love that she had denied herself for far too long. Out of fear.  
Out of self-hate.  
Out of denial.

Catra stood on the platform, surrounded by geometrical lines and darkness. Yet she felt safe here.  
"Now I want you to put a structure there. Maybe a house, a temple, a palace. A place that you would want to call your own." Perfuma spoke.  
Catra concentrated and managed to create a stairwell leading up to a hybrid of Bright moon castle  
and the building her and Adoras quarters had been in the fright zone.  
The lower half was made out of royal marble and could be entered via the lower half of a gigantic gate.  
The royal marble flowed into the upper sickly green part of the structure.  
An observation plateau, not too dissimilar to the one Catra and Adora had spent hours just talking about basically everything and nothing,  
stuck out from the buildings roof top.  
Catra ascended the staircase.  
"Now imagine a river or a pond nearby." Spoke Perfuma.  
Without giving, it much of a thought, Catra envisioned a small waterfall rushing down from the infinity above her.  
The waterfall collided with the buildings left side and ran down its outer walls in a thin layer  
until it fell into the endless nothingness around the building, which thus far was still just floating underneath the heart of etheria.  
"Listen to the water. Feel the water." Perfuma instructed.  
"Take a deep breath and feel its flow." She went on.  
Catra did as she was told.  
She breathed in ....  
...she breathed out.

She breathed in again...  
...and breathed out.

She brea- "You are worthless!"  
Suddenly a well familiar figure, dressed in all red and black, face hidden behind a mask,  
had appeared in, what was supposed to be, Catras inner sanctuary."  
"Stupid child. She will leave you again." The apparition whispered in Catras mind.

Catras eyes sprung open. "No!" She yelled out in panic and jumped out of the conference room chair.

Both Perfume and Frosta looked at her in surprise through the screen.

"Is everything alright Catra ?" Asked Perfume with concern.  
"I-I can't-" Catra started, but then she stopped.  
Neither Perfume nor Frosta seemed like the right people to talk to about this.  
"I promise I will be back in less than fifteen minutes." Catra declared as she sprinted out of the room, leaving the other two long range video callers a bit confused.

\----------------  
"Adora!" Catra yelled as she burst into her and Adoras quarters.  
Adora was currently She Ra and was holding without Catra noticing it both the Sword and Shield of protection.  
"Whoa. Careful there." Remarked Adora as she had to make sure she didn't accidentally hit Catra with either Item.  
"Tell me what you need. I'm kind of in a middle of something." Adora said.  
"I-" Catra began. She hesitated.  
She knew what she had wanted to say but now she felt something inside her pushing against these pre- formulated words.  
"Uh, yes what is it ?" Adora asked, still a bit preoccupied with the feat she had just accomplished.  
Finally, Catra managed to get over herself.  
"I need a bit of ...cuddle time." The shade of red present on Catras face was deeper than scorpias pincers.  
Adora looked up from her weapons and without much fanfare transformed back into her normal self.

"I'm sorry that I interrupted you, I just-"Catra began but Adora put a finger on Catras lips.  
"Shhh. Hey it's alright. No need to explain. I'm here for you." Adora said as she laid Catra and herself on the bed.  
"We talked about this. If either of us needs to be close to the other than all we have to say is that we need cuddle time."  
Adora said as she wrapped her arms around Catra from behind.  
"This specific wording was your idea." Remarked Catra as she started to relax again.  
"That was to make sure you really needed it and weren't just trying to annoy me." Countered Adora with a smile.  
"Well. I mean you are easy to rile up." Chuckled Catra as she clung to Adoras arms.  
Catra felt safe and protected in these arms.  
Yet she still had to ask a simple question.  
A question she had asked multiple times before and Adoras answer had always been the same.  
A moment of silence passed.  
"Adora?" Catra asked.  
"Yes?" Adora responded.  
"Do you really love me ?" Catra asked, feeling silly doing so.  
"Yes and you know that. Catra, what happened ?" Adora asked.  
Catra retold the events of her meditation exercise.  
Adora thought about it for a few seconds.  
"Shadow Weaver did leave both of us with little in regard to closure.  
It's not like she hasn't been on my mind and even in my dreams." Explained Adora.  
Much to Catras surprise, Adora got up from the bed again.  
Then she held a hand out to Catra.  
"Maybe Perfuma knows a thing or two about intrusive thoughts." Adora said.  
"I considered that too but I don't really know if it's of any business to her." Catra said.  
" That is yet another thing we already talked about. Asking others for help." Responded Adora.  
\-------  
Once Adora and Catra had made their way to the conference room and told Perfuma about the situation,  
the flower princess took a moment to think about the situation.  
"This meditation exercise is supposed to provide the user with an inner safe space to retreat to for inner peace." Perfuma began.  
"It should be free of any negative thoughts.  
However the way you two describe it, the issue is with how integral Shadow weaver was to both your childhoods." She went on.  
"More importantly, it sounds like you two see Shadow weaver in a way she wanted you to see her.  
A powerful magician and especially to Catra a tormenting mother." Perfuma continued.  
"Nothing is all powerful. Every fear just needs to be looked at from the right angle to be de-fanged.  
Every fear I ever faced during meditation I faced with empathy.  
You two are probably never going to completely get over Shadow Weaver  
but maybe you can make her presence in your memories less paralyzing."  
Perfuma finished.  
"But how?" Adora asked in unison with Catra.  
Perfuma thought about it for a few seconds.  
"Was there ever a moment when Shadow Weaver showed any sign of vulnerability ?" Perfume Asked.  
"Whenever she couldn't control the black garnet. But also," Catra mused. "Her very last moment."  
She stated with uncertainty vibrating in her voice.  
This last moment.  
The moment right before Shadow Weaver had died, had become the source of so many questions for Adora but even more so for Catra.  
If she had truly been ready to sacrifice herself for what were essentially her foster children,  
then why had she never shown any love to Catra before ?  
Despite every success Catra had achieved, Shadow Weaver never acknowledged her.  
Worse, she had switched sides and in doing so almost doomed Catra.  
All these thoughts started to resurface in Catras mind again. She felt her pulse accelerating and her eyes watering up.  
Trying her best to keep her composure Catra started to breathe deeply.  
Adora, noticing her Girlfriends unease, took Catras hand.  
The still semi ingrained urge to instinctual shake Adoras hand off lingered in Catras mind for a millisecond,  
before she just tightened the grip.  
Catra slowly calmed down again.  
"Maybe you two should be physically close to one another when I instruct you on the disarmament meditation."  
Perfuma said with her usual friendly,  
if not a tad nervous smile.  
"I kind of named this meditation technique myself." Perfume proclaimed proudly.  
\----  
A few minutes later Catra was back in her minds inner sanctum.  
Standing in her the hybrid palace she had conjured up in her mind she could already sense Shadow Weavers presence.  
"Stupid child." Echoed the voice of the deceased Magician in her mind.  
"I can see her." Catra spoke.  
"Don't lose your focus. Concentrate on her. Concentrate on her mask. You know what she looks like without it." Guided Perfumes voice.  
The feelings of dread reemerged in Catra as she once again saw the red and black figure standing in her mental sanctuaries entrance.  
The impression of shadow weaver grew more distinct. "Why do you even try anymore. If it wasn't for you, Adora would be truly happy."  
Catra knew that in truth these words came from inside herself. It was the deep seeded doubt that plagued her mind.  
A doubt that had been planted by Shadow Weaver over years.  
A doubt with roots that felt as if they had always been there.  
An ever present question pained Catras thoughts. 

What if shadow Weaver had been right all along?

Frozen in doubt and fear Catra felt the Darknes of Shadow Weaver engulf her.  
A memory, that was all Shadow Weaver was now. Yet a memory with immense power over Catra.  
"Just as I would have done, had you ever become useless, so will Adora. She will leave you to rot."  
Declared the memory of Shadow Weaver.  
Catra started to breathe faster. Then she was reminded of Adora by the feeling of her holding her hand.  
Even in the deepest meditation she could feel it.  
"No, " Catra said in defiance. "You are wrong. But more importantly, you are no longer scaring me." Catra growled.  
Slowly, but visibly, Shadow Weavers mask began to fade.  
"I don't fear you anymore." Catra went on. "You only managed to manipulate me because I was a child.  
Because I had never known what love and friendship was."  
The mask faded further.  
"I know myself now and I know that I am not alone. I learned so many things.  
I learned that friendships might not always be easy, but they are always rewarding.  
I learned that saying sorry doesn't solve everything but it is a step in the right direction  
and every step that follows will be hard but worth it.  
I learned that hiding from yourself will never work out.  
There are those who've seen me all along, and they were so patient with me. So...very patient."  
Catra felt a tear roll down her left cheek.  
"But the most important lesson I learned was ..." Catra took a deep breath. Holding tightly to Adoras hand. "...to forgive."  
The figure of Shadow Weaver no longer wore a mask. She had sat down in a dark corner of the room.  
"If not to forgive than at least to understand." Catra said as she approached the memory of Shadow Weaver.  
"You would have wanted to raise both Adora and me as a loving mother. If only things had been different." Catra pondered.  
"There were moments of motherly love ...but ...well ...it's not an excuse for what you did.  
Just like it is not an excuse for what I did." Catra said as she seated herself  
next to Shadow Weaver.  
"No child chooses where they are born, but they can choose where they will go." Catra concluded as she smiled.  
An inner calm spread through Catras mind.  
She kept sitting next to Shadow Weaver in her inner sanctum for a few more minutes, listening to water running down the roof 

\------  
After the meditation exercise was done both Adora and Catra went back to their quarters.  
"Shadow Weaver will never truly be gone from my mind but I can learn to live and accept her as a part of me."  
Catra said as she lay on their bed, cuddled up to Adora.  
Melog was resting at the beds foot.  
"That's true." Said Adora as she played with Catras hair, which was slowly growing longer again.  
"By the way." Adora said off handedly.  
"Yes?" Responded Catra.  
"Bow and Glimmer are coming over from their quarter for a best friend squat sleep over."  
Adora said as she gave Catra a peck on the neck and got up.  
"Wait what?" Catra exclaimed in surprise. "When was that decided.  
"About half an hour before you came for cuddle time." Said Adora with a cheeky grin.  
"I swear I'll somehow convince you to change that name. " Catra muttered.  
"Nope." Responded Adora as she put her hair back in a pony tale.  
"Why tho ?" Catra requested.  
"Because we're still working on your social skills. Also cause it's fun." Adora responded.  
"Fine. But don't be surprised if i get diabetes from watching Bow and Glimmer being their usual overly sweet selves.  
Although thats mostly Bow enhancing Sparkles usually normal levels of sweetness." Catra opined.  
\-------  
The rest of the evening went by with few noteworthy events.  
Much laughter was shared and quite a bit of blushing until at last they all decided to catch some sleep.  
Catra kept tossing and turning until at last, Glimmer couldn't help herself and addressed Catra.  
"Could it be that you can't sleep ?" She asked.  
Both Adora and Bow breathed out in relief that they didn't need to be the ones asking.  
"Ugh. Sort of. I went through so much emotional stuff today and now it's keeping me up.  
I even tried Perfumas meditation exercise but nothing works." Catra blurted out.  
"OK. For the sake of all of us, I have an idea." Glimmer said as she started drawing magical light circles in the air.  
"This spell isn't just drawn it is also sung. It is in essence a lullaby spell.  
My mom used to sing it to me many times when I was little." Glimmer explained.  
"Weird I could have sworn your mom also sang that spell to you just a few days before we first met Adora." Bow interjected.  
"Ok, maybe I asked her to sing it whenever i needed it, even if i wasn't all that small anymore." Said Glimmer with a red face.  
"The point is that it always helped me go to or sometimes go back to sleep." Glimmer went on as the rune was almost complete.  
"It is a memory of her that I'll always treasure." Said Glimmer as she threw the magical circle towards Catra.  
Once it had gone through Catra, Glimmer began to sing.  
It wasn't normal Etherian that she sang. It was some old, long forgotten language.  
A magical language. With every note she sang, Catra grew more and more tired until at  
last she curled up on the bed and with one arm on Adoras shoulder, fell asleep.

End of Chapter 5  
Next Chapter 6: You were a bad friend


	6. You were a bad friend

"Everyone Attack !" Yelled Catra as she led the Horde forces on the battlefield toward the princesses last stronghold.  
Hovertanks advanced on Brightmoon Castle. Almost all princesses had been struck down. They were either dead or dying.  
Merely Queen Angella of Brightmoon held possition keeping the magical shield, that protected the castle, up.  
Catra knew that this wouldn't be the case for much longer.  
"Concentrate fire on the runestone ! "She ordered with thunder in her voice.  
"It is almost done. I shall be victorious and they will all see." Catra monologed to herself.  
"I wouldn't be too sure about that." Said Adora who had suddenly appeared next to Catra.  
"Uh and why would that be ?" Catra asked.  
"Silly child." Said Shadow Weaver, who also had just seemingly come out of nowhere.  
"Do you really want to win the war while in your underwear ?" The magical mistress mocked.  
"What!?" Catra exclaimed as she realized that, indeed, she was only wearing her horde issued standart undergarment.  
She hastily tried to cover herself up, yet it was to late as the entire hord army turned around and started to laugh at her.  
Even Queen Angela, who for whatever unfathomable reason was now standing next to Shadow Weaver joined in on the laughter.  
"No! Don't look at me, could someone just lend me..." Catra yelled.

"...some spare clothing." She finished as she awoke in a sweat.  
Catra looked around and realised that she was still in her and Adoras quarters,  
which for the time being were also co-occupied by Glimmer and Bow.  
Adora was still sleeping peacefully next to Catra.  
Bow, as well slumbered quietly on the floor matress. Glimmer on the other hand was awake.  
She was staring out of the quarter windows at the stars. Having heard catras involentary exclaimation, she turned around.  
"Weird dream ?" Glimmer asked.  
"Uh, you could say that. It's like my brain was like,  
'How about some guilt tripping mixed with the going somewhere in underwear nightmare'."  
Catra explained.  
"That weird huh?" Glimmer had to smile.  
"Yup." Catra agreed.  
"So what was it about? Your dream I mean." Glimmer Asked.  
"It wasn't important...actually you know what, it was important.  
I hadn't really thought of how I had hurt you with my actions during the war."  
Catra said with a slight tremble in her voice.  
For the first time since she had set foot on this ship again, did she feel ready to confront her past head on.  
"So I will ask you what I've already asked Frosta, Mermista and Perfuma. Do you hate me for what I've done ?"  
Catra asked while , for the first time, she managed to keep eye contact while asking this question.  
"Was my mother in your dream ?" Glimmer asked back.  
"Yes. I didn't really know her, like at all. The only time i saw her was on the battlefield.  
But ever since we became friends I've had more frequent dreams with her in them."  
"It is my fault that she's gone. That's undeniable and I feel truly sorry for you, but I can't reverse it." Catra answered.  
Glimmer chuckled.  
"Irreversable actions are a funny thing.  
One moment you are totally blinded by the ambition to not only prove yourself but also to win a war by any means nescessary  
and the next thing you know, you are a prisoner of war being held in a cell on an alien spaceship.  
Then there is this shy catgirl who is desperate for contact, any contact and she is sitting on the other side  
of a forcefield opening up about her crush on one of your best friends." Glimmer said with a persisting smile.  
"You know, before that day I would have wished the worst plague on you but it didn't take long for me to  
realise how sensitive you actually were. It made me think of myself.  
I got lucky to have a loving mother to raise me in the first place.  
I can't help but feel that if I had been in your shoes,  
I would have probably become just like you. Abusing someone who is sensitive will allways curupt them.  
I probably would have never considered using the heart of etheria if my mom had still been there.  
That's not an excuse by the way. What's done is done. It won't become undone by insisting on its  
importance. It's only importance that we learn from it and avoid it in the future.  
We both did something incredibly stupid and short sighted, yet we are still here and we have both grown because of it."  
Glimmer finished.  
"So in other words, I don't hate you." She added.  


Catra thought about what Glimmer had told her for a few seconds and then said.  
"Thanks. I never really thought about it like that."  
She wanted to leave it at that but then caught herself adding one last comment.  
"Also I wasn't shy." She stated.  
"Oh really ?" Glimmer questioned with a smug grin.  
"Oh no, I already don't like it when Adora does that. Don't you start on the whole 'ain't Catra cute' shtick."  
Catra said, her face already turning red.  
"I didn't even say anything about you being cute. But now that you mention it..." Glimmer said with a devious grinn.  
"Don't you dare." Said Catra, trying to keep her voice down as not to wake Bow and Adora.  
"Adora said something about your-"  
In the middle of the sentence, Glimmer teleported over to Catra and placed two fingers under her chin.  
"-chin." She started to gently scratch Catras chin.  
Much to her surprise Catra didn't object or move away.  
The oposite really. She raised her head up a few inches, giving more space scractch.  
A purring eminated from Catra as her eyes had tightened to slits.  
"Wow,I did not expect you to enjoy it that much." Glimmar said in surprise.  
"I am not." Catra said, trying to sound as angry as possble.  
"So that's why you're not even trying to stop me from doing this ?" Teased Glimmer.  
"Ok, I like it when people do that. You happy? " Catra growled.  
"Uh, I'm honestly a bit lost." Snickered Glimmer.  
"Let me put it like that. If you tell anyone other than Adora about this, you will feel my wrath." Growled Catra.  
"Wow. That was , uh , direct." Glimmer said as she stopped scratching Catra in surprise.  
"Hey I didn't say stop." Said the half feline as she moved her chin a bit forward.  
"Oh. " Glimmer giggled. She didn't need to be asked twice.  
Catra kept purring.  


"Aww, who is a nice little kitty ?" Snickered Glimmer.  
In an instant Catras hand had Grabbed hold of glimmers wrist.  
"No." She opined.  
"You may pet me and you may think of me as cute BUT only Adora gets to call me her Kitty." Catra clarified.  
"Ok, yesh, sorry." Glimmer said.  
"It's alright. As long as you don't do it again." Said Catra as she let go and offered her chin to Glimmer yet again.  
"Fair enough, I wouldn't want you to call me by any of the pet names Bow calls me by."  
Chuckled Glimmer as she began to scratch Catras chin again.  
Through the purring Catra still had to ask something.  
"What name or names would those be ?" She inquired.  
"Oh, well...I guess it can't hurt to tell you." Glimmer said. "He likes to call me 'Bright Eyes'." Said Glimmer sheepishly.  
"I know it's kind of dumb." She added with an awkward smile.  
"What ? No, it's a pretty name. I mean it's maybe a bit corny...but so is Adora calling me her little Kitty." Catra reasoned.  
"It's not about how dumb a pet name sounds it's about who calls you by that name."  
Said Catra with a smile as she turned to look at the snoozing figure of Adora.

After a few seconds Catra turned back to Glimmer with a surprisingly sincere look.  
"I just remembered something.  
It's a bit ,Uhm, odd but... I know that you're kind of my height and I sort of promised Frosta that Uh well..."  
Catra stuttered.  
\----

In another quarter of the ship, Scorpia was just getting out of bed,  
in an attempt to be the first one at the only shower on the ship.  
Activating the lights, she got up and inspected herself in the mirror as she pot on a Bathrobe.  
Just as she was about to leave her quarters did both Glimmer and Catra teleport into her room.  
"...said I think she might be already up." Sounded the second half of sentence, Catra had startet in her own quarters.  
"Hi Scorpia." Said Glimmer with a sheepish grinn.  
"Good morning to you two too. " Answered the tall crustatios ex Horde Force Captain in positive surprise.  
"What brings you here so early ? Especially you , Catra. I didn't take you for an early riser." Scorpia asked.  
"We need your advice." Said Glimmer.  
It was only now that Scorpia took note of the dozen or so dresses that Glimmer had teleported into the room with her.  
"Wait, are we doing a make over ? " Scorpia exclaimed excitedly.  
"Yes, for Catra." Answered Glimmer with equal messures of excitement.  
"Oh boy, what have I just gotten myself into." Groaned Catra.  
"She asked me because we are about the same height. So we're gonna find a dress that fits her." Squeed Glimmer.  
"Are we going to have a dance or something on board?" Scorpia asked.  
"No, I promised Frosta to wear a dress during the next long range Meditation session." Catra explained, still annoyed.  
"And since I know, excuse my first ones speak, Jack sh*t about dressees,  
I asked Glimmer, the Queen of dresses, to help me." Catra went on.  
"She then suggested getting a second opinion to which I replied that no one will be up right now, besides MAYBE," Catra accentuated the maybe.  
"Scorpia. That's why we are here now." She finished.  
"Well you two came to the right place, I'm awake and I have a sowing kit." Scorpia declared with glee.  
"God I hope Bow will be equally as annoyed by the prospect of doing this as I already am." Declared Catra.  
"Wait, why would Bow have anything to do with this ?" Asked Glimmer.  
"Well, Frosta told me that she always wanted to see Bow in a dress. Y'know, since he too wore a suit to the princess prom."  
Explained Catra as Scorpia weaseled around her to take measurements.  
"We don't really have any Dresses in his size onboard tho, so thats a deffinite no."  
Reasoned Catra, secretly hoping that this way she could avoid having a third person see her in one of Glimmers dresses.  
"Adora is about his size."  
Argued Glimmer and before Catra could even think of objecting, the queen of Brightmoon was gone.  
Leaving only Catra and Scorpia.  


Scorpia was still intently focused on getting Catras measurements.  
Catra just stood there awkwardly with her arms raised to each side.  
Then she decided to talk.  
"Ok, so... Scorpia...we hadn't really had the chance to talk alone with one another,  
since Horde Prime was defeated."She said.  
"Wow, you're right. But you didn't really make it easy for me.  
I actually tried to visit you multiple times in Brightmoon castle." Said Scorpia.  
"Yeah, I saw you each time but you didn't see me." Said Catra sheepishly.  
"Wait really ? How does that work ?" Asked Scorpia.  
"I would hide on top of the ceiling beams...I felt awfull about everything I had done to you."  
Catra said with her head hanging low.  
" Avoiding you meant that I didn't have to face it." Said Catra.  
"You were right back then. I am a bad friend and for that I am sorry." Catra mumbled.  
"You deserved so much better than me and from what I've heard you got someone much, much better."  
Catra said." and I am happy for you."  
Catra kept standing there , not looking up.  
Scorpia squatted down and looked straight into Catras eyes.  
"You know, as much as I should try to still be angry at you for all the times I was treatet like dirt by a girl named Catra,  
I just can't.  
It's because, yes, her name was Catra and she looked exactly like you  
and she also had a few Character traits in common with you BUT, she is not you."Scorpia explained.  
"This Catra would have never said what you just said. She never apologized even once." Scorpa went on.  
"She would endanger an entire Planet, just to get revenge. You are not that girl.  
You were a bad friend,I won't deny that. You've come a long way since then  
and I know Bow, Glimmer and especially Adora would agree when I say that you are a good friend, now."  
Scorpia finished and leaned forward as she hugged Catra in a warm embrace.

End of Chapter 6  
Next Chapter 7: Visual


	7. Visual

Bow had long become accustomed to Glimmers surprise teleportation kidnappings.  
Kidnappings in the sense that Glimmer would teleport into the room,  
grab onto him and then teleport out without even asking if he wanted to go wherever she was about to teleport to.  
Bow never stayed mad at her for doing this, but in the initial moment of confusion he could get a bit hot headed.  
Waking up to the sight of Glimmer squatting next to him, Bow spoke before his brain was even half awake. "  
Please tell me where we're going before you teleport us."  
He half yawned.  
"To Scorpia." Glimmer replied, matter of factly but before she could touch Bow to teleport him with her,  
he backed away a few inches.  
"Slow down bright eyes, I want to know why as well." Bow inquired.  
"You do remember that talk we had, right?" Bow Asked.  
"Ugh, yes." Replied Glimmer.  
"So..." Said Bow, waiting for Glimmer to properly revise her request.  
"Would you like to come with me to Scorpias quarters, me and Catra are trying on dresses,  
because as it turns out," Glimmer went on rolling her eyes." Catra promised Frosta to wear a dress for her next Meditation session.  
The reason why I want you to come, is that Catra mentioned that Frosta also wants to know what you would look like in a dress.  
Was that better ?" Groaned Glimmer.  
"Yes, however it is Catra and I not me and Catra." Remarked Bow with a sly smirk.  
"You know if didn't know any better I could sometimes believe that my mom is controlling you from between the worlds."  
Muttered Glimmer in annoyance.  
"Come on I am not that bad. Now am I, Glimmah ?" Bow grinned.  
Despite Angelas absence, the running gag between Bow and Glimmer of imitating the former Queens accent had persisted.  
There had only been one gap in its usage between the couple and that had been after Angela had sacrificed herself.  
From then on until Bow and Glimmer re-united on Maras ship on their way to Horde Prime, the joke had been avoided.  
Yet, after their reunification, the both of them soon rediscovered it's semi universal utility as a mood enhancer.  
Glimmer chuckled." Alright. So will you come with me?" She asked.  
" Blimey Glimmer, will oy." Bow jested.  
"God you're terrible at this." Laughed Glimmer.  
"So I take that as a yes." She added.  
"Sure." Said Bow and before he could even get properly up, Glimmer had teleport ed him with her out of the room.  
\-----  
"I look like a dork." Said Catra as she observed herself in the wall mirror.  
"No, you look great." Countered Scorpio.  
The dress she was trying on was white, at ankle length, long sleeved and tight collared.  
The definition of conservative.  
A spark noise could be heard followed by Glimmer declaring, "That was my first diplomatic meeting dress."  
"I would completely understand if you don't like it. I was trying a bit too hard to be a super serious ruler when i bought it."  
Glimmer added.  
"Oh yeah, I remember that one, " Bow added. "Wasn't that the dress you wore when you and I..." He began.  
"Whoa, that's more than they ever need to hear." Interrupted Glimmer.  
"Sorry, It's just that that was the only time I've seen you wear it." Bow apologized.  
"And for good reason." Remarked Glimmer.  
Catra looked at the couple with an amused glance.  
Then she giggled  
"I don't get it what's so funny ?" Asked Scorpia.  
"It's nothing really." Chuckled Catra.  
"Come on spit it out." Said Glimmer," No one likes that one person who alludes to something but then  
acts as if it doesn't matter, leaving the rest of the room guessing."  
"Alright, but you two gotta promise not to be mad." Catra adressed Bow and Glimmer, still smiling.  
"Errr..." Glimmer wasn't sure what to make of that statement.  
"It's just that I can't for the live of me imagine you two going anywhere beyond kissing." Catra cackled.

Glimmers eyes went wide in surprise and also peevedness.  
"What is that supposed to mean ?" She inquired.  
"Come on, you two are like two puppy dogs. My mind can't even conceive of you two doing anything more indescent than snuggling."  
Catra kept on giggling.  
"That's ridiculous, we've done IT already multiple times." Pouted Glimmer.  
"Really? When was the last time ?" Smirked Catra.  
"I get the feeling that I shouldn't be here right now." Mutered Scorpia uncomfortably.  
"Catra, what the hell, that is none of your business." Croaked Bow, whose voice was cracking as it always did when he was under stress.  
"Yeah, also I doubt you would want Adora to tell us about your bed adventures." Reasoned Glimmer.  
Catra just scoffed."Pfft, I don't care." Just to then go wide-eyed as she saw Glimmer teleport out of the room.  
"Oh no. She's gonna get Adora, isn't she ?" Catra muttered in horror.  
"Knowing her, I would assume so." Agreed Bow.  
"Sooo, I take from your previous comment that you don't like the dress you're currently wearing ?"  
Scorpia remarked trying to avoid the uncomfortable silence that had almost set in.  
\------  
"Adora, wake up !" Demanded Glimmer from the vast asleep blonde, softly shaking her.  
"No Swift Wind I don't think all winged Horses are the same..."  
Came a reply from Adora, who just turned to the side and kept sleeping.  
"Adora !" Said Glimmer now with more force behind her voice.  
Adoras eyes shot open, and she exclaimed in a mix of panic and determination." I WANNA BE A WINGED HORSE!"  
"What ?" Asked Glimmer as Adora slowly became aware of her surroundings.  
"Glimmer ? Wait, what time is it ?" Asked Adora with a yawn.  
"Time for you to take care of your rude Cat." Answered Glimmer, pride in her voice suggesting she actually thought this was a clever line.  
"Catra ? What did she do this time ? Did she call you names ? Did she scratch you or...."  
The rest of the sentence was inaudible since Adora just went back to sleep half-way through.  
"Adora!" Glimmer shook the disinterested Princess of power back awake.  
"Wha-... Ugh...WHAT!" Said Adora, now slowly growing impatient.  
"She was being rude and made allusions about Bow and my private live...y'know..." Glimmer awkwardly said. "Bed stuff."  
Adora couldn't help but snort laugh. "Catra is one to talk, given what I know."  
"OK cool, so in this case," Glimmer began,grabbed Adoras arm and teleported.  
\----  
"This dress is actually nice and most importantly, it got pockets."  
Remarked Catra as she tried on a red sleeveless casual summer dress that ended shortly bellow her knees.  
"Let's confront the Cat." Sounded Glimmers voice sounded right after the never changing teleporting sound.  
Catras face went from satisfied to panicked in a matter of seconds.  
She quickly jumped behind Scorpias bed for Cover.  
"Catra, what are you doing ?" Asked Adora in puzzlement.  
"I'm totally not hiding from you because you will make fun of me if you see me wearing what I am wearing right now."  
Catra answered, her head peaking over the bed sheets.  
"What, because you told me that you rather make out with Swift Wind than ever wear a dress?" Inquired Adora with a sly grin.  
"Come on, be a big Kitty and get over it." Teased Adora further.  
A shade of crimson returned to Catras face as she hissed.  
"Adora, not in front of the others." She remarked.  
"Well I wouldn't have to do this if you weren't such a ...bad little kitty." Adora said with special emphasize on the word bad.  
"Alright, alright. You win." Catra said as she got up again.  
Adora chuckled to herself. " Master of Discipline, still got it."  
She said in exactly the moment when she got entangled with some of the dresses, laying on the floor.  
Before she knew it, Adora landed flat on her face.  
"Yep, Master of clumsiness more like."  
Cackled Catra as she quickly made her way over to Adora to help her up and untangle.  
"Ok, so now that Catra has stopped being ...Catra,  
I want to know from you, Adora, what you and Kitty Cat over there are doing in Bed."  
Glimmer said, with a mix of anger and slyness.  
"Slepping mostly." Answered Adora, right before she realised that this was not what Glimmer had meant.  
"Oh, you mean...THAT stuff." She said with an inflection of an archeologist who had just discovered Atlantis.  
"I really don't want to hear this." Remarked Scorpia.  
Without giving, it a second thought Glimmer teleported next to Scorpia,  
teleported out with the crustatious Princess and then teleported back in.  
"I dropped her of at your Quarters, she likes petting Melog." Glimmer mentioned off handedly.  
"Now, speak Adora." Demanded Glimmer.  
"Ok, first of all. I never said I would tell you about mine and Catras private stuff. Mostly because it's  
...well private. Secondly, what did Catra say ?" Adora inquired.  
"She basically compared me and Bow to puppy dogs." Ranted Glimmer.  
"Awww but Puppy dogs are cute." Remarked Adora.  
"I think you're missing the point again." Grunted Glimmer.  
"She said she couldn't think of me and Bow doing stuff in bed, since we are too cute."  
"Uh, I mean. Not that I would want to Infantilize your relationship or anything but," Adora said.  
Glimmer shot Adora a look that was meant to intimidate her.  
"Are you really taking Catras side on this ?" Glimmer said in disbelief.  
"I mean it isn't my fault that you two are as edgy as hot chocolate with whipped cream." Adora tried to justify.  
"Puppy dogs? Hot chocolate ? Bow, please tell them ...something." Glimmer basically begged her boyfriend now.  
"Uh...ok so here's the thing. Glimmer and I have-

Dear readers due to the E rating of this Fan fiction we shall leave out the explicit description of Bows and Glimmers interactions.

"Wow. That, I did not see coming." Catra exclaimed with her eyes now opened wide in disbelief.  
"Yeah." Agreed Adora.  
"So now you have to apologize." Glimmer told Catra. " Also it is now your turn to tell us one of the things you do." Demanded Glimmer.  
"First of all, Sorry. Second of all, what if I don't want to ?" Catra asked.  
"I could truth spell you." Glimmer said without any hesitation.  
The other three looked at her in shock.  
"Ugh, fine. I won't do that. Bloody morals." Muttered Glimmer in disappointment.  
"Maybe we could compromise. No one demanded from Bow to be as explicit as explicit as he was.  
But as a token of our friendship I'll tell you one thing I like Adora doing to me when we are being intimate.  
Catra took a deep breath.  
"God, I can't believe I'm about to do this." She muttered under her breath.  
"I get a kick out of it when Adora transforms into She Ra and holds me up by the scruff of my neck, which immobilizes me."  
Catra said as her face turned red.  
"Wait, like a real cat ?" Inquired Bow.  
"Like a real Cat." Answered Catra, already regretting having told them.  
"Why does it turn you on ?" Glimmer asked.  
"What kind of question is that ?" Retorted Catra. " Why are you into that thing Bow mentioned before ?"  
"I don't know !" Glimmer shot back.  
"Exactly." Said Catra.  
"Well screw you then, cause that's not an Answer." Replied Glimmer.  
"It was, you just need to listen more carefully when I talk, Sparkles." Hissed Catra.  
A brief moment of Silence passed as both Catra and Glimmer looked at each other in confused anger and excitement.  
Then Adora interrupted.  
"Ok, do you two want a moment for yourselfes to sort things out or..." She said with a cocky grin.  
Both Glimmer and Catra quickly stopped staring at each other and yet another moment of silence followed.  
Then Glimmer took a chance and spoke up.  
"I think that the dress you choose looks good on you." She stated to Catra.  
"Uh, thanks. I like it too." Catra said as she looked down on herself.  
"Thank god, that deescalated quickly." Said Bow in relief.  
"Yeah, I'm as surprised as you are." Stated Adora."  
Also I'm glad that neither you nor Glimmer picked up on an obvious thing me and Catra like to do." Adora said.  
"What thing ?" Bow inquired.  
"I'm not going to repeat it. You gotta figure this one out yourself."  
Said Adora with a self-satisfied grin on her face.  
  
But before Bow could even start to guess, he registered a pale blue light to his left which grew steadily brighter.  
"What the...?" He said in surprise as his eyes followed the light to it's source.  
It came from Catras right shoulder, it was her bracelet.  
The runes on it glowed in an ice blue hue with the intensity of a laser.  
Showing no sign of diming, the light grew stronger and even Catras somewhat panicked attempts to cover it with her hand was of no use.  
"What is happening ?" She exclaimed in horror.  
"Has it ever done that before ?" Asked Glimmer, shielding her eyes from the, now unbearably bright light.  
"No." Catra simply yelled as now the bracelet was emiting a high-pitched hissing noice as well.  
"We should try and get it out of the room or something."  
Bow yelled, being barely able to come up with coherent thought, due to all the noise and light.  
Then the Bracelet let out a sphere shaped burst of highly concentrated light  
before it returned to a calm fire like flickering low light.  
After the hissing noise had disappeared, everyone needed a second to regain their senses.  
"What-" Adora was about to ask, when suddenly the ship whide intercom crackled to live.  
" Entrapta to everyone, we have Visual." Declared Entraptas cheerfull voice.  
\-----------  
Once most of the Crew had assembled on the bridge, Entrapta briefed them.  
"We found the signals source." She said while pointing at the Planet that filled the entire screen.  
It was an emerald green glowing orb with four main rings and a plethora of smaller ones.  
Some rings shone yellow, others purple.  
"None of the first ones star charts mentioned this planet, so I took it upon myself to name it." Spoke Entrapte.  
"Since we went on this mission because of Catra, I shall name it, KitKat1." She declared with delight.  
"Ugh, you could have just called it Catra." Catra muttered, as a few awwwws went through the room.  
Entrapta wasn't finished." The odd thing with this planet was that it had been invisible up until a few minutes ago." She explained.  
"It just kind of faded into existence." She said.  
Catra, Bow, Glimmer and Adora glanced at Catras shoulder where the bracelet was still timidly glowing.  
"I think my bracelet might have had something to do with that." Catra exclaimed.  
"Ooooh it's glowing now." Entrapta realised as she focused her attention on Catra.  
The techno princess made her way over to Catra but having learned from the last incident, asked Adora instead of Catra.  
" Adora could you ask Catra if i could analyze the Bracelet again ?"  
"Why don't you ask Catra yourself?" Adora inquired.  
"Well, she sort of freaked out last time I did, and she calmed down when you asked her." Reasoned Entrapta.  
Catra was indeed a bit uneasy again. She was always uneasy when someone made allusions about taking her bracelet.  
This time however she tried her best to not lose control over her emotions again.  
Indeed, instead of becoming frightened, she simply closed her eyes and retreated into her inner sanctum.  
\-----  
Shadow Weavers unmasked figure stood on the edge of the roof platform of Catras inner temple.  
She poured a watering can onto a flower bed that seemingly hovered in midair, right in front of her.  
"I did not expect you to be back here so soon." The memory of Shadow Weaver declared.  
"Well I am." Said Catra." I need some inner peace."  
"The bracelet ?" Said the memory knowingly.  
"Yes, the bracelet." Catra responded." I still feel overwhelmed by all this fear whenever I feel like I might lose it."  
"We all fear loss." Stated the memory calmly.  
"Loss of a loved one, loss of ourselfs, loss of...well something we had for as long as we can remember."  
The memory went on.  
"Everything will at one point be lost. That is a fact of live." She explained.  
"The important thing to know is that this does not mean that everything is pointless.  
What it means, is that in truth it is worth every moment we have with it, with them, with ourselfs.  
No less and no more. The time for everything will come at some time  
but now is not the time to worry about when that time may be.  
Your bracelet is one of many things you can lose but Entrapta and  
all your friends are also parts of your life you could lose, so treasure them just as much or depending  
on the situation maybe even more." The memory finished.  
"Thanks," Catra needed a moment to mentally digest what the memory had told her.  
"One question tho." She said.  
"Yes?" Responded the memory.  
"Was what you just told me something I already knew or was that actually some of Shadow Weavers wisdom ?"  
"Catra, meditation doesn't bring people back from the dead." The memory replied with a smile.  
The inner sanctum began to fade away again.  
\-----

"Entrapta." Catra said as she opened her eyes again.  
" You can run another analysis on my bracelet." She declared as she removed the bracelet from her right shoulder.

End of Chapter 7  
Next Chapter 8 The unavoidably odd meta filler episode


	8. The unavoidably odd meta filler episode

AN: The following chapter may not really advance the plot but rest assured that it was a joy for me to write.  
So I hope it will be a joy for you to read.  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Unfortunately, due to atmospheric anomalies we will have to stay in Orbit of KitKat1 for about another day at least,  
until the ship has collected enough data to estimate a reliable flight pattern through these anomalies."  
Declared Entrapta as she tinkered with a console that displayed some data relating to the ships sensors.  
"Could we use this time to maybe come up with a better name for the planet ?" Muttered Catra.  
"But the name is already on every file about the planet. I even send a long range data transfer to Mystacor for their star charts.  
By now it's probably set in stone or rather crystal." Said Entrapta.  
Catra sighed. "This will haunt me for the rest of my days, I can feel it."  
Bow,Catra, Adora and Entrapta had assembled in the engine room after the crew had initially gotten ready to land on the planet.  
The landing was postponed and Entrapta was briefing Adora and Bow , as Technical Officer and leader of the Crew respectively, about it.  
Catra had just sort of tagged along.  
"Alright, that's unfortunate but waiting another day won't hurt anyone I guess." Said Bow.  
We could have a movie night." Said Entrapta excitedly.  
"Movie Night ? We don't have any Movies on board.  
Well ok, there are some war Propaganda holofilms and that recording of a school theater production  
of the story of She Ra from that one Plumerian Elementary school."  
Pondered Adora.  
"That is where the Interdimensional incident from earlyer today comes into play. " Declared Entrapta.  
"What incident?"Asked Catra in bewilderment.  
"Oh thats right, I didn't tell anyone yet." Said the tech enthused princess.  
"Earlyer....like wayyyy earlier, three interdimensional travellars materialized on the bridge." She went on.  
"An old man with a kid and a younger man in a long coat. The old man came through a green portal , the young one in a blue box."  
Entrapta kept talking as she typed some information into the console.  
"To make a long story short, they argued a bit before the young man dissapeared again, then the old man asked me if I wanted  
"Interdimensional Internet. I asked him what that was and he explained it, so I said sure  
and now the ship has interdimensional access to every database in the multiverse.  
The only problem with that is just the pure quantity of Information.  
The ship is running a subroutine to sort through it all but if my estimations are correct it will presumably be done in 20 years."  
Entrapta finished.  
"So ...that means?" Catra asked not really knowing what to make of this.  
"It means we can choose from every movie ever for movie night." Explained Entrapta.

And so, later that day the crew assembled on the bridge yet again.  
This time there were rows of lean back chairs directed towards the big main viewing screen.  
The entire crew was there.

"So what are we going to watch now ?" Asked Adora.  
Entrapta was still fiddling with the console."Errrmmm, just a sec-"  
The screen sprang to live.  
A gasp of surprise went through the crowd.  
On the screen a wall of text appeared.  
"What is sherlock and why is JohnLockfan69 so fixated on telling us why Mrs. Hudson  
should have ended up with John Watsons wife ?" Asked Mermista, sounding indifferent as always  
however with a tang of irritation.  
"i think sherlock might be some sort of fiction. The old man mentioned that name as part of an insult." Entrapta explained.  
"Imagine being obsessed with fictional characters."  
Declared Mermista as she quickly hid a datapad on which she totally wasn't writing a Mermysterie fan story.  
"Sorry Guys." Exclaimed Entrapta. I'm trying to access a video database the old man told me about."  
"This however isn't it." She elaborated and kept fumbling.  
A new site appeared.  
"What is a Rule 34 ?" Asked Adora.  
"It's not the site I was lookin for." Mumbled Entrapta as she tried to figure the interface out.  
"Wait! Is that ...? "Adora exclaimed as she squinted her eyes at one of the images displayed. "Catra ?"  
"What ? Why would i be on some Interdimensional database ?" Catra argued.  
"Administrative access , please enhance sector H3 C2 of the screen." Ordered Adora.  
The ship did as it was told.  
"Oh my god!" Declared Lonny as she realised just what was displayed in that picture.  
"Catra , that is you and you are-" Lonny exclaimed in surprise.  
"No, I am not ! Have never done that, would never do that and will never do that!  
If i find out who's responsible for this, they will pay."  
Although in reality Catra made a note in her mind to remember to ask Adora later if they could try that."  
"It looks so real." Declared Kyle , shivering with fear.  
"I think I got it now, said Entrapta and the display on screen switched yet again.  
"You tube? I'm not a tube." Declared Scorpia in confusion.  
"Or maybe it means you, Emily. You have tubes don't you ?" Scorpia asked.  
The green ex-warbot beeped in response.  
"Hey, whoa there , I didn't mean it as an Insult. I'm just grasping at straws here." Explained Scorpia.

"Actually, this is the Video Database the old man told me about."Declared Entrapta victoriously.  
"Now what do you guys want to see ?" She asked into the crowd.  
"oh oh oh!" Scorpia exclaimed excitedly.  
"How about something about friendship"  
"Alright, friendship." Said Entrapta as she entered the search term 'friendship' into the search bar.  
"Apperantly small horses managed to come up with an equation to create magic out of friendship"  
Said Entrapta as she observed the search results. Then she clicked on the first result.  
About four minutes later she returned to the main page.  
"That was mediocre and confusing. None of these horses looked like ...well Horses." Said Adora, scratching her head.  
"I guess Swiftwind would be happy to know that there are Alternate dimensions with free roaming talking horses." She went on.  
"But still. Actually now I'm curious. Entrapta can you look for dimensions with Horse looking free roaming Horsepeople ?"  
Adora Asked.  
"I need a search term for that." Answered Entrapta.  
"Uh, I don't know. Search for Horsemen." Guessed Adora.  
"Horseman, coming right up." Entrapta declared.  
More search results popped up and Entrapta again went for the first result.  
Yet another five minutes later she went back to the main page.  
"That was really depressing." Declared Mermista.  
"Well at least this time he looked sort of like a Horse. An alcoholic very sad horse." Adora hung her head.  
"Whoa there, are you alright ?" Catra asked Adora.  
"It's just...now I am worried that Swiftwind could end up like that. Could I just rest my head on your lap ?" Adora said.  
"Sure." Smiled Catra warmly.

"Hold on. If Catra was on that one site , then she is probably gonna be on here too." Reasoned Lonnie.  
"Lonnie?! What the hell ?" Catra exclaimed.  
"What , it's just logical to assume." Lonnie retortet.  
"Catra...alright here we go." Said Entrapta as she typed in Catra.  
"Huh, what does `soft Catra`mean ?" Asked Bow.  
"Only one way to find out." Entrapta replied.  
"Maybe we should think about the possible conseq-" But Catras objection was ignored.  
Yet another 6 minutes later Catra just wanted to vanish out of embarrassment.  
"Awww my little kitty really is soft." Said Adora as she rubbed her head on Catras shoulder.  
"Yeah Catra sure is a cutypie." Teased Glimmer.  
"Yup a soft fluffy kitty catty." Agreed Bow.  
As Catra was sitting between Glimmer and Adora, she hissed at Glimmer.  
"Don't call me cute." Just to then add in hasty whisper. "Please never stop calling me cute."  
Then she turned to Adora. "The same goes for you," She whispered."please don't stop calling me cute."  
"Never thought about it even once, you'll always be my Cutera." Adora whispered back.

"Heureca, I found an actual movie." Declared Entrapta.  
"It is called 'the room'" She said. "Seems like someone added the entire movie onto this database."  
"Well then lets go. Onto the ADVENTURE of watching a movie." Exclaimed Sea Hawk.  
The movie started and within the first few minutes Catra burst out laughing.  
"Uhm, I mean that dudes acting is bad" Adora refered to the main character, a man with long black hair." but it isn't that funny."  
"It's not just that. I just realised that he is almost as bad at acting as you are Adora." Snickered Catra.  
A few chuckles could be heard throughout the room.  
"Hey, I`m not that bad." Pouted Adora.  
"Aww look who'se cute now." Teased Catra.  
"That would still be you." Said Adora, now bearing a sly grin as she gave Catra a quick kiss on her left cheek.  
The couple cuddled up and kept watching.  
Now a very awkward love making scene was going on.  
"Y'know , I am not the biggest fan of sexy stuff but even I know that this isn't sexy despite it's attempt at trying to be."  
Said Scorpia.  
"Yeah, you're right about that. This is just awkward...and lenghty.  
Also I'm pretty sure someone wasn't paying attention in Biology." Riffed Catra.  
After the abysmally long scene was done, the movie seemed to move on.  
However the next scenes somewhat plot advancing dialogue lulled the Crew into a false sense of Cinema enjoyment.  
This sense was completely obliterated however by not one but two more love making scenes withing the next 15 ...yes dear reader ,  
you heard right...15 MINUTES.  
Both of which where overly long and unnecessarily drawn out.  
Grunts of annoyance sweeped the bridge. However some startet to laugh at the pure absurdety.  
"Wait , are they doing it on the stairs ?" Asked Mermista in astonishment.  
"I remember that when we tried that once, we had to go to a hospital in Sealenius, since I cracked a rib."  
Added Sea Hawk.  
The movie became more convoluted by the minute.  
"Listen, I may have looked away for a bit too long but didn't this scene already happen." Scorpia asked as,  
in a later scene one of the characters was talking to her mother...again.  
Talking about exactly the same points as in a prior scene.  
"No, you're right. This scene is almost exactly like another scene. Maybe the movie is about time travel." Guessed Lonnie.  
"That would explain a thing or two." Kyle chimed in.

\------  
A very confusing movie later, half the crew had tummy aches from laughing so hard at the pure idiocy that they  
had just witnessed, while the other half were in a headscratching daze.

"Normally I would feel bad for a character killing themselves at the end of a story but this was just so confusing."  
Scorpia said in bewilderment.  
A grunt of agreement went through the room.  
"Y'know now that we're done with the movie. How about we look through 'your tube' again." Catra opined.  
"But now that we already know that I can be searched up , how about we look up ..." Catra paused with a devious grin."...Adora."  
"I don't think that will be -"  
"Results for Adora coming right up." Said Entrapta with enthusiasm.  
"Oh boy." Sighed Adora.  
" Revenge is a dish best served cold." Chuckled Catra.  
"I'm pretty sure Lonnie brought your name up during the last search." Adora mumbled.  
"Here we go," Entrapta said as the search results showed up."which one shall it be ?"  
"What is that word ?" Asked Adora. " The one at the bottom of the list."  
"Good question.Adora being the dumb Labyan ? Les bee ann? " Entrapta tried to pronounce the foreign word.

Excerpt from the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy on Etherian culture.

The Etherian Language does not contain a seperate word for same sex attracted Individuals since, despite all it's political and cultural diversity none of the emerging Kingdoms and Fractions , not even the Horde, ever thought there was an issue with it.  
A couple has always been defined as two or more Individuals of any Identity,  
sharing a mutual emotional and/or physical attraction for one another.  
There is however a word that sounds almost exactly like the terran word 'Lesbian' but actually refers to  
a croissant like pastry ,traditionally made in Plumeria.  
Yet in another coincidental turn of events there is a word that sounds like 'Gay' in etherian as well but  
this word actually reefers to a type of mountain plant , blooming near Brightmoon.

"Wait, is this video calling me dumb ?" Adora asked.  
"Well a dumb lesbaean." Mispronounced Catra with a grin.  
After the Video was done, most of the confusion of the prior movie was forgotten, now everyones Attention was on Adora.  
"We really need to get Adora drunk again." Sneered Lonnie.  
"Hell yeah, I'll make sure of that." Catra agreed and reached over to give Lonnie a high five.  
"Hey, I will not be drunk for your amusement." Argued Adora.  
"But it's always fun to see you act a fool when you're drunk." Countered Glimmer.  
"Also I wasn't drunk. I was under corruption aftereffects." Adora said with her arms crossed.  
"But last time you were legit drunk, you behaved excactly the same way." Teased Catra.  
"No comment." Pouted Adora jokingly.  
"That`s what it thought." Giggled Catra and gave Adora a peck on her right cheek.

The rest of the night was spent with more laughter and odd discoveries on the interdimensional network.

\----------------------------

This concludes our little detour through what is commonly thought of as a filler episode.

End of Chapter 8  
Next Chapter: 9 Team mates and memories.


	9. Team mates and memories

Catra felt awkward.  
It hadn't been the first nor second and certainly not third time she had felt awkward during this mission.  
But this time it was different.  
This time the feeling of intense guilt was intensified by the fact that it wasn't just  
one person she had wronged whom she had to face alone but three.  
Kyle, Lonnie and Rogelio.  
Three people with whom she had laughed during last nights Movie night.  
But now there wasn't a relaxed social atmosphere to help lighten the mood.  
Now there was only the slight humming of the small decompression chamber.  
A decompression chamber that offered space for merely four people.  
Entrapta had tried to explain to Catra why decompression was an essential part  
of stepping out onto an unknown planet, even if the air was breathable and  
the magnetic field strong enough to hold off hazardous radiation but Catra  
had zoned out once Entrapta had begun to talk about the sub atomic level.

Now she was stuck in the decompression chamber with, what would now be, her team-mates again.

Just a few hours earlier Bow and Adora have had a discussion about strategic team structures.  
Bow had suggested that Catra should build a team with Kyle, Rogelio and Lonnie, since they had years of experience together.  
Once the news about the team structures reached Catra, she had the following talk with Adora.  
\-----------  
"Are you nuts !?" Catra almost yelled.  
"First of all it was Bows suggestion and secondly he has a point. You, Kyle, Rogelio and Lonnie know each other very well.  
Strengths, weaknesses and so on and so forth." Adora explained.

"Why don't you go with them then ?" Catra asked.  
"Because most of my experience as a Team leader was made with members of the princess alliance.  
I know their weaknesses and they know mine." Adora said.  
"I fought a war with them and for this mission we need to have well-established teams." She finished.

"So you think, just because I was their force captain during the war that I would make a good team leader for them now ?"  
Asked Catra in disbelieve.  
"That was my assumption, yes." Adora replied truthfully  
"Adora, do you even know just how badly I've treated them ? Can you begin to Imagine."  
Catra asked with tears swelling in her voice.  
"Having to spent time with the other princesses alone and confronting my past actions regarding them  
was one thing but this...this is different."Catra went on.  
"I treated Scorpia like crap, I won't deny that. I also caused so much harm to the princesses and  
their kingdoms and I'll never forget it. But at least Scorpia had the strength to leave and  
the princesses never had to endure me 24/7 during the war."  
"Lonnie, Kyle and Rogelio had no choice and I made them suffer because of it." Catra spoke as tears rolled down her face.  
"Severe punishments whenever I felt like if I couldn't be happy, then neither should they.  
I send them on potentially fatal missions just to quench my thirst for some sense of recognition.  
I abused my power to justify my existence as worth something. I caught a glimpse of Kyles burned body  
and acted like I didn't care. He was severely burned because of a mission I had sent the team on.  
Lonnie almost died because of inner bleeding after an incident with improperly tested weapons gear  
and Rogelio had to get her out of harms way just to then injure himself severely as well."  
Catra now had tears running down her face.  
"I literally had them beat up more than once for minor disobedience. I was a monster and worst of all, it made me  
feel better about everything else." Catra elaborated as she could barely believe her own words.  
With every word she spoke, she unearthed memories she had hoped to be buried deep enough, never to be recovered.  
Buried with rationalizations, buried with substances, buried with denial.  
Now they weren't buried anymore and all their weight and implications flooded Catras mind at once.  
Catra slid down on the wall she had been leaning on and buried her face in her arms.  
Sniffling and stifled sobbing could still be heard regardless how hard Catra tried to repress it.

Adora felt a faint sense of déjà vu as she was reminded of an experience from many years ago.  
Ironically enough back then the initiator had also been Catra hurting Lonnie, tho just Lonnie in this case.  
Catra had run away after she had hit Lonnie in the assumption that Adora wanted to replace Catra with Lonnie as her new best friend.  
Adora had found Catra, sobbing in a corner and tried to console her but upon asking why Catra had hit Lonnie, Catra had lashed out.

Many years had gone bye since then and Adora knew that she could approach Catra without much hesitation.  
Adora put her right hand on Catras left shoulder as she squatted down to her level.  
Putting her forehead against Catras, Adora ran her hand through Catras hair.  
Slowly, the sobbing subsided.

"You know that I am very proud of how far you've come." Adora whispered.  
"During the last few months I've seen you happy way more times than you've ever been in the fright zone."  
She went on.  
"This was mostly because you opened up. First to me and then gradually to everyone else." Adora spoke.  
"I know you can open up to Kyle, Lonnie and Rogelio as well." Adora tried to persuade Catra.  
"What if they hate me ? What if they can't forgive me ?"  
Came a somewhat muffled response from Catra whose lower half of her face was still buried in her arms.  
"Well, that is always a risk you need to take. Not everyone will always love you, some people won't  
like you regardless of what you do." Adora contemplated.  
"Listen, the problem you have right now is uncertainty.  
You've had that problem multiple times during this mission,  
yet there has always been only one constant solution to that problem.  
You had to face these uncertainties and make em into certainties."Adora said.

\--------------

Now, a few hours later, Catra was sitting in the compression Chamber with Kyle, Rogelio and Lonnie.  
She still hadn't spoken a word.  
Lonnie couldn't help but break the awkward silence.  
"So, how is our little kitty Catra today." She teased.  
Catra rolled her eyes.  
"Once, I mentioned my pet name once and now the whole ship knows it." Catra groaned.  
"It is an adorable nickname tho." Reasoned Kyle.  
Rogelio gave an approving lizard sound.  
"Ok, I was waiting for a more appropriate moment to ask you guys this but if it means  
I can spare myself more cooing from you guys I might as well ask now." Catra said.

"What do you mean ?" Lonnie asked.  
"I want to know if you guys still hold a grudge against me for how I treated you when I was  
a force captain in the horde ?" Catra asked.  
"You treated us exactly like a horde force captain treats their subordinates." Said Lonnie in a dry tone.  
"It was still bad but nothing new really." She went on.  
"We've been working on our own emotional recovery from the war. Guided meditation, just like the one  
you've been doing with Perfuma." Lonnie stated.  
"So at least for me, you don't need to apologize. The things you did to us as a team sort of  
blend together with all the other cruelties that were common practice in the horde." Lonnie finished.  
Catra was lost for words.  
"You don't want me to appologise ? You`re not even holding a grudge ?" Catra had to make sure she understood.  
"Why are you so surprised ?" Asked Kyle.  
"I had a mental breakdown, preparing for this. I cried for the first ones sake." Catra declared in disbelief.  
"You did? Wow, it's hard to picture you crying without punching anyone at the same time." Lonnie said.  
"Hey screw you, Lonnie." Catra spat back.  
"I'm just saying that`s what you tended to do while crying. You beat me up at least once while crying." Lonnie reasoned.  
"Yeah, the two times you beat me up I was torn between feeling helpless and feeling sorry for the person that was making me feel helpless."  
Stated Kyle as he recalled these odd experiences.  
A lizardous grunt came from Rogelio.  
"That's right you never beat up Rogelio...well you tried once but that was oddly adorable." Lonnie chuckled.  
"I swear, a few too many people on this ship are starting to see me as a literall Kitten. I'm not that Adorable." Catra complained.  
"Whatever you say." Responded Lonnie.  
A moment of silence passed in the decompression chamber.  
"So, you wanted to appologise to us or something ?" Lonnie asked.  
"Not anymore. Not if you don't need my apology." Catra reasoned.  
"Maybe you still want to tho...y'know to get some closure." Lonnie suggested  
Rogelio gave an approving grunt.

"I'm not sure if i want that." Catra said.  
"I think that might be awkward." She explained.  
"When I told Adora that I was sorry for the first time, I couldn't even see her. I sort of thought that it was my last chance to make  
a difference before I...well I sort of expected to die." She went on.  
"I've been apologizing to the princesses for the last few days and that wasn't too difficult. You guys however..." She hesitated.  
"I've known you for ...well almost forever. I don't know how to properly apologize to you guys."  
Catra said as she leaned forward and rested her head on her hands.  
"Maybe you just say sorry first and then you can elaborate on it as you go along." Suggested Kyle.  
"Yes Kyle." Catra started sarcastically." Great Idea, got any other...ugh I'm doing the thing again." Catra realised.  
"What thing ?" Asked Lonnie.  
"Getting all pissy and such. Perfuma reminded me of that constantly during the meditation sessions. Especially when i was  
making fun of Frostas naivety." Catra explained and snickered.  
"But to get back to the point. What I wanted to say is, I'm sorry I was condescending towards you, Kyle." Catra finally gave in.  
"Kyle, you've been always the annoying little brother of our group.  
I think we might have given you such a bad time because you almost always tried to look at the bright side of things and thats just  
the wrong attitude for the fright zone. Also you're a giant klutz. So much so that I sometimes believe you could be related to Adora."  
Joked Catra.  
"I mean they both got blonde hair." Lonnie reasoned " So who knows. Hey Kyle, could you say 'For the power of gray scale'?" Lonnie asked Kyle.  
"It's 'For the honor of Greyskull'" Corrected Catra.  
Lonnie snickered. "Look out Catra, your Nerd is showing." She chuckled.  
"What, no. I'm not a nerd, I've just seen Adora transform into She-Ra a few times.Also Adora is my girlfriend, I want to propose  
to her soon, of course I would know what she says to transform." Catra reasoned.  
"Whoa, you want to pop the question to Adora ?" Kyle asked in awe.  
"Hey, let's not get sidetracked here. So, Catra you're not a nerd, huh ? So what were these drawings of She Ra you had locked away in  
a drawer in your Force Captain office." Lonnie asked with a smug grin.  
"That was purely for strategical purposes only." Catra said as her face turned red.  
"Sure, just like the Cat-Ra outfit you drew and the very detailed fan story as well. All strategically essential." Lonnie cackled.  
" Wait, you went through my drawers ?" Catra only now realised.  
"Don't worry I won't tell anyone about the other thing I found in there." Lonnie grinned.  
"You better not, or I'll tell someone about THE THING you once asked me to do." Catra shot back.  
"That...you wouldn't." Said Lonnie as her face started to drain of colour.  
"Oh I would." Said Catra in bemusement.  
Then both Lonnie and Catra laughed at the same time.  
"Y'know I missed this Catra." Lonnie said when she was done laughing.  
Throughout the cadet program Lonnie and Catra had always been frenemies and very competitive towards one another.  
Catra had always disregarded Kyle and Rogelio as being either too weak or ...a Lizard.  
Adora was in a different Category entirely.  
Lonnie, however had always been someone who she needed to be better than.  
Always outrunning, out strategizing and outfighting her.  
Lonnie was the bar Catra had set or herself when it came to performance.  
This was partly because she also saw some of herself in Lonnie.  
"I really missed this too. I missed hanging out with you guys. Honestly, I missed you guys."  
Catra smiled.  
"When I became force Captain, all I could think of was how to get things back to how they had been before Adora left.  
I became obsessed and it took me a long time to finally snap out of it." Catra reviewed.  
"We're glad to have you back too." Said Kyle.  
Rogelio grunted in agreement.  
"Yup." Said Lonnie.  
"Thanks guys." Said Catra.  
As if on cue, Melog, who had thus far just lain on the small foot space of the chamber jumped up on Rogelio, Kyles and Lonnies  
collective laps.  
"Seems like Melog agrees as well." Lonnie chuckled.  
Kyle petted the Magical creature and then addressed Catra again.  
"So when do you plan on proposing to Adora ?" He asked.  
"I'm just asking cause Rogelios and my wedding will be in about two months." He said." I wouldn't want it to be interfere with yours."  
"Wait you two are already going to marry ? When did you propose?" Catra asked in surprise.  
"A few days after the war ended. We've been holding of on sending the invites because things were still a bit chaotic." Kyle explained.  
"You two are obviously invited...and so is Melog." Kyle clarified.  
"Wow, first all congrats. " Said Catra.  
"Yeah Muzzletoff." Agreed Lonnie.  
"You know maybe you could give me some advice on how to properly propose. They didn't exactly cover that subject in force captain orientation."  
Catra asked with interest.  
"Well the first thing you need to remember is to breathe." Kyle started.

End of chapter 9  
Next Chapter 10: Alliance Captain Catra.


	10. Alliance Captain Catra

The group, consisting of Kyle, Lonnie, Rogelio and Melog and led by Catra, made their way through the cavern system  
underneath the sprawling surface of KitKat1.  
"We are now entering the approximate radius of the signals source." Catra declared.  
"How large was that radius again." Kyle inquired.  
"About 200 cubic miles. That's why we split up into three different groups." Explained Catra.  
"If you see anything remarkable, please say so. We don't know what or who is sending the signal.   
It could be a life form, a computer or a magical artifact." Reminded Catra.  
"So keep your eyes peeled." She finished.

The groups' path was extensively illuminated by Melog who'se current shape was that of a light emitting sphere.   
It was a yellow warm soft light. A light that was easy on the eyes.  
Every member of the group had a personal force field emitter and a Bow-certified energy-blaster.  
The blasters could be set to; Nauseate , Stun, Burn, Cut and Kill.   
Although Bow had made it abundantly clear that Killing should always be seen as a last resort.  
The Blaster could also be used as a multitool.

The caverns were mostly barren, stalactites and stalagmites covered the ceiling and floor.  
A bug would crawl into a tiny hole in the wall every now and again but other than that there was nothing much to see.  
Just caverns, which stretched for miles and miles.  
It was so mindbogglingly boring that, if you weren't either careful, your mind might start to play tricks on you.  
It would fill barren walls with structures resembling faces.

For about another two minutes, the group ventured on, deeper into the system.

Then Catra picked up a scent.  
She knew it wasn't magic since Melog seemed to be at ease.  
Catra held her right fist up, signaling the team behind her to stop.  
"What is it ?" Asked Kyle.  
"Some kind of animal. I think, it smells like...ugh feces.  
The smell is very faint but pronounced. Some sort of nest might be ahead."  
Catra said as she produced a probe the size of a fingernail from her strategic satchel  
The probe had been designed and conceptualized by Entrapta.  
Using the planets magnetic field, the probe could float and be retrieved with the signal of a wristband.  
A wristband that Catra was currently wearing.  
She let the probe float into the darkness ahead.  
Within a few seconds the probe had been completely swallowed by darkness.

The group became increasingly nervous with every second that the probe didn't float back into view.  
Lonnie and Rogelio had unholstered their blasters.  
Kyle activated his protective force field.  
Melog tried to expand in an effort to both make themselves seem more intimidating and also to brighten the tunnel further.  
Sensing the rising tension, Catra put on a slight relaxed smile and glanced over her shoulder.  
"Stay calm. Try keep your blasters low and keep the setting on nauseate." She ordered.  
"Are you sure, there might be some very hostile lifeforms ahead. I think nauseate won't help us much." Argued Lonnie.  
"That is one possibility but there are also about a thousand other options.   
Some of which might not justify deadly blaster use." Catra reasoned.  
"Lonnie trust me, offense shouldn't be our first deffense. Take a look at Kyle,he gets it." Said Catra with a cocky smile.  
Lonnie looked at Kyle who was awkwardly standing a few feet behind her, his figure glowing blue from the force field.  
Rogelio and Lonnie did as Catra suggested and lowered their Blasters settings and activated their force fields.

Then the probe finally floated back into view and subsequently into Catras hand.  
She took it and red it out vies the wristband.  
"As i thought." Catra muttered.  
"Rodents. Or at least this planets' version of rodents. A lot of them, they are slowly coming closer." She went on.  
"Wait what did you mean by "as I thought"?" Lonnie asked.  
"We're in an underground Cave where most if not all the creatures we've encountered thus far have been bugs.  
So obviously some rodents must be nearby or else these insects would be literally everywhere." Catra sighed.  
"If they move in a herd then having them panic would be a bad idea obviously." Catra sneered just to exhale in a sigh and rub her temples.  
"Sorry, I didn't mean to talk down to you. All of you are doing great thus far and getting your Blaster is not a bad idea in general,   
just always try to account for your surroundings." Catra said with an unusually warm smile.

Then a shape slowly crawled out of the darkness, followed by many smaller, four legged mole like creatures.  
"Stand still and wait until they've passed." Catra advised.  
Without counting Lonnie quickly realised that there must've at least been a hundred of them.  
It truly would have been ill advised to blast at them.   
Even though none of the creatures went higher than her kneecaps, Lonnie knew that it was the quantity that posed a serious hazard.  
Right now however, the creatures were just minding their own business waddling in the opposite direction of where the team was headed.  
After about ten minutes,the rodent migration was done and the team could move on.

Moving deeper into the Cave system, the walls started to display hieroglyphic symbols scattered across the walls.  
A bit further down the road, Catra spotted a crevice in the wall and when she went to observe it,her shoulder bracelet began   
to glow in unison with something inside the crevice.

"What exactly is that ?" Asked Lonnie a bit dumbfounded.  
"Melog, have you seen something like this before?"   
Asked Catra as she reached into the crevice, hesitated for a moment and then   
retrieved the other glowing unknown object which began to float.  
Melog transformed back into his feline form.  
Then he observed the strange foreign body in front of him  
At first glance, one could've easily thought the thing to be a floating  
diamond shaped wooden figure yet upon closer inspection, the object didn't seem  
to obey the rules of logical geometry.   
It's lines, connections and the very fabric, all seemed to be in a constant state of flux.  
Nothing about it was consistent or even logical.

Melog talked to Catra.  
"Ok." Catra nodded in confusion.  
"What did Melog say?" Asked Lonnie.  
"They say it's an all knowing beacon ?" She said stating it more as a question.  
"An all knowing beacon ?" Kyle asked.  
"Yes, that's what Melog said. But Melog also said that it's hard to explain to none magic users.  
I think it would be the best if I report this to Entrapta."   
Catra said and was about to unholster her transmitter, when a flash of light struck her from within the object, knocking her out.

When Catra came to it again, she wasn't in the tunnel anymore.  
Instead, she found herself in a purple room with a ceiling that was so high, she couldn't even see it.  
The room was simple in design with fine lines running in a faint white glow along the walls.  
One door of normal size was at one end of the room and at the other end stood a throne like chair, behind which three pillars rose into infinity.  
From behind the pillars shone a neon orange glow brightly, flooding parts of the room with rectangular blocks of light.  
Catra stood up and looked around, hoping to find a familiar face.  
The small door, seemingly the only intentional exit was closed.  
Catra still tried to open it, yet it's stone surface wouldn't budge.  
Then Catra ran to the pillars, beyond which stretched a lush green jungle esque landscape.  
The only problem was that this Landscape was about a few kilometers bellow her and the walls underneath didn't offer any sort of halt.  
One wrong move would definitely spell her demise.

She gazed back into the room.  
"is someone here ?" She asked into the emptiness.  
"Melog ?" She probed.  
"Lonnie?"   
"Kyle? Rogelio?"   
No answer was given.

Catra sighed and walked up to the throne like chair and sat down.

"Well this is ...something." She had barely uttered these words as the door at the other end of the room slid open.  
Catra just sat there in surprise, expecting something or someone to enter the room before she decided to get up and investigate.  
She stuck her head through the doorway.  
Behind the door was a long corridor, running infinitely both to the left and right.  
Although the corridor was well lit, Catra couldn't see either it's left nor its right ending.  
A row of windows ran along the corridors entire length.   
The windows too, just like the space between the pillars in the throne room offered a view from far up above over a jungle landscape.  
Catra stepped into the corridor, unsure of where to go next.  
Suddenly the noise of a childs laughter rang from the left side and a scratching noise from the right.  
Without thinking much about it, Catra went left.  
The laughter grew louder with every step she took until it suddenly died down and was replaced by sobbing.  
Being somewhat unsure of what to make of this, Catra slowed her pace down a bit.  
"H-Hello ?" She asked into the seemingly infinite corridor.

As if she had been heard the corridor suddenly bend into a left turn right in front of her eyes as it was made of rubber.  
Peeking around the newly created corner, Catra spotted a girl.  
She had ears similar to herself but was much, much younger.  
The girl was in tears, sobbing, rolled up in the fetal position, her face covered by her arms.  
"Hello? Are you alright ?" Aske Catra   
The girls ears twitched, and then she looked up, saw who was talking to her, let out a hiss and started to run down the corridor.  
Catra was stunned for a few moments before she went into pursuit.  
That face, she thought. It was her own face.  
"What is going on here ?" She asked herself as she ran down the corridor, trying to keep up with the girl.

End of Chapter 10  
Next Chapter 11: Allience Captain Catra II


End file.
